Government At 100 Days: Keeping A Finger On The Pulse

NEXT week President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s class of 2010 Cabinet will mark their first 100 days in office. It will be a time for them to reflect on the work they have done so far. It is also a good time to assess the President’s performance.

From the outset, it’s good to point out that there are plenty of positive signs so far.
While the President’s first 100 days some five years ago marked a good start, there was no clear game plan and now at least there is one!
Pohamba leapt out of the starting blocks on March 21 2005 on issues such as graft and made the right noises with little or almost zero strategy – or so it looked to us outsiders.
Back then I thought his performance was wishy-washy but again it is good to point out that the strategy was probably continuation of the Sam Nujoma era. Thus many saw Pohamba’s first Cabinet as an interim Cabinet to appease Nujoma. Pohamba said a lot but delivery was below par.
In fact, there was a sense that he did not have the toughness of character to take on non-performing ministers and permanent secretaries nor determination to push for a new direction for Namibia.
This time around things look much different. Considerable work has been done behind closed doors and ministers have very clear terms of reference on what and when to deliver. In fact, next week is the deadline for them to submit their very first quarterly reports since they were (re)appointed.
With the advent of his second term in office, I believe Pohamba has pushed the ‘reset’ button although the size of the Cabinet, as well as most of the faces, remain largely the same.
It is very clear that Pohamba is not just out to reverse some of the egregious mistakes he might have made over the past five years. He also seems to want to leave an impression.
In terms of Cabinet he did not make monumental changes. But that’s his character, I’m told by those who have been close to him for many years. He likes playing safe and generally has an inclusive approach to life, which borders on preference for extensive consultation within Swapo’s top structures.
That explains why some of the ministers who hardly worked over the first five years retained their jobs.
While many of us thought that the size of Pohamba’s second Cabinet ran counter to the sentiments that had endeared him to the people, like his campaign against corruption, the President opted to keep the size basically the same.
Those who left were not sacked, to put it bluntly. They either retired or worked themselves out of Swapo congress voters’ favour. Their fate was not decided at State House.
Pohamba is well aware that the trouble with retaining the same people who have been ministers for over 15 years is that in many respects this practice is not helpful. Scarcely a handful can be regarded as people who have been effective and thus indispensable in the management of the affairs of the nation.
However, the ‘reset’ button seems to have been effective, so far, in that we see some ministers making regular ‘ministerial statements’ on key issues in Parliament and that they have also started publicly demanding increased productivity from permanent secretaries and other senior staff.
One minister recently even went to the extent of blocking a foreign trip by senior management members whom he had instructed to submit monthly reports that will help him compile his own for State House. That is encouraging.
Two weeks ago, Pohamba read the riot act to permanent secretaries. He told them to up the ante. He and Prime Minister Nahas Angula also worked on the terms of reference (ToR) of permanent secretaries, I understand.
Pohamba could take it a step further by instructing Foreign Affairs to come up with ToR for ambassadors before they are reshuffled/appointed and posted.
There is a need to place each foreign mission under the microscope. We need to see returns from some of our missions abroad.
For some there is not even the faintest sign of a trade-lead yet they receive huge funds each year to run the office, pay staff salaries, give allowances to their spouses and live in luxury.
Perhaps here is a case for the Auditor General to zoom in on non-performing missions with the hope of helping the President to decide which ones to close.
For the President to leave a mark, he needs to look at issues holistically. Some are immediate fixes, but others will serve the nation’s long-term interests although they might not make him popular among his comrades.
Otherwise, we will get nothing more than a crutch when we need a cure.
However, as things look right now, Pohamba seems to be keeping his finger on the nation’s pulse.

* This article first appeared in The Namibian