Shiimi allocates 643 million to drought, 14.5 million to sport

Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Iipumbu Shiimi has announced an allocation of N$643 million to supplement the drought relief provisions under the Office of the Prime Minister.

The money will cover both food distribution as well as support to affected farmers.

“In keeping with the fiscal sustainability narrative, we balanced the expenditure requests against the available resource envelope cognisant of the imperative to manage the borrowing requirement,” said Shiimi as he presented the Financial Year 2023/24 Appropriation Amendment Bill in the National Assembly yesterday.

“We have set aside a total of N$643.0 million to supplement the drought relief provisions under the Office of the Prime Minister covering both food distribution as well as support to affected farmers.

“Going forward, the Office of the Prime Minister has started piloting an alternative drought relief delivery mechanism through utilising vouchers so as to minimise the associated administrative costs, consequently creating an opportunity to make more food available to vulnerable people.”

Shiimi also stated that “we are engaging the farming community and other relevant stakeholders such as Agribank and Meatco to explore further measures to assist farmers to better cope with the prevailing drought situation.”

Among other allocations in this mid-year budget is an allocation of N$14.5 million to the Ministry of Sports, Youth and National Service for youth empowerment projects and the youth credit schemes.

“I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the widespread misconception that the Government has not prioritised funding sport activities, hence our national team continues to play international matches on foreign soil.

“In the previous financial year, FY2022/23, we availed N$50 million for the upgrading and renovation of the Independence Stadium in order to meet the requirements for hosting international fixtures. Again, in the current financial year, we have allocated N$37.5 million to the Independence Stadium project.

“Furthermore, N$60 million and N$65 million are committed in the MTEF for FY2024/25 and FY2025/26, respectively.

Shiimi added that “I therefore would like to make it clear that the problem with upgrading the stadium has never been a lack of money but rather slow execution. We therefore need to adopt a collective Government approach to fast track the renovation of our sports facilities.”

In the photo: Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Iipumbu Shiimi.