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National Namibia Concerns National Namibia Concerns 915 East 9th Avenue • Denver, Colorado • 80218 • (303) 83Q-2n4 • FAX (303) 830-2414 April 1, 1990 Dear friends of Namibia, Eighteen months ago, United Nations negotiators set April 1, 1990, as the goal for the Namibian peace process to be completed. After more than a century of waiting and hoping, and suffering and struggle, that final goal was achieved ahead of schedule! For all of us who have worked in the struggle, and hoped and prayed, along with our Namibian friends, this is indeed a time of rejoicing. Enclosed are portions of Ralie Deffenbaugh's final report from Namibia. We are grateful to him for his accounts over the past year, detailed observations which enabled us to participate, even at a distance, in these historic events. Also enclos~d, a couple of news arti~lEs which begin the discussion of the difficult path ahead---nation building is a formidable task, especially for a nation ravished for decades by foreign countries. Also, for those of you who are members of the ELCA, a recent proposal to re-organize yet again their pension funds in response to a church-wide mandate for divestment. Action on this would have to be immediate, since the Church Council meeting is April 19th. It appears that South Africa will be free long before us Lutherans dare take any "risks". Finally, we are still short of funds to produce our Naaibian Independence issue of the Newsletter. Susan Burchfield was there for the independence celebration, and will return soon with pictures and stories. We'd like to make this a special issue. If you can help, Thanks! Viva, free Namibia!! ~/i~ " Luke 4:18 NAMIBIA: AFTER INDEPENDENCE, BRACING FOR THE FUTURE by Ketson Kandafula WINDHOEK, March 30 (IPS) -- Now that the fanfare is over and everyone has gone home, Namibia must get on with the daunting task of sorting out its future. Over 160 international dignitaries turned out on March 21 to watch the lowering of the South African flag on Africa's last colony and to celebrate Namibia's long overdue independence. The government of President Sam Nujoma must now insure independence for the country's 1.2 million people by tackling the economy, unemployment and re-organizing the country from a minority-ruled to a democratic society. According to official estimates, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) government has inherited a 500 million rands (about $330 million) budget deficit. Some thirty percent of the eligible workforce is jobless and the majority of the black population is poorly educated. "I calIon the cabinet ministers and civil servants to tackle with urgency and determination the burning problems of unemployment, poor housing, the crisis in education and water supply," Nujoma said in his forward looking independence speech. "There is a long way to go before our country's resources are fully exploited to improve living conditions for our people. Our raw materials are exploited unprocessed, but we need to process our own diamonds, beef, karakul, fish, to thus serve our local markets and export to the world," he added. The first task before the-government is to mend relations with the white minority. Nujoma's first showdown with whites is over the sell of property. "Already some whites are selilng their homes, far~s, commercial and industrial property at prices ranging between $80,000 to three million dollars. This move leaves little property for the government to inherit and Nujoma has blamed the departing administration under South African administrator general, Louis Pienaar, for starting the property game. But the biggest problem will be finding jobs for the unemployed. Besides the jobless left behind by Pienaar's administration, the new government has to find work for some 19,000 ex-fighters of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) and the close to 32,000 Namibian refugees who returned to the country. Before leaving the country, Pienaar said that to create jobs, the new government needed "money, enterprise and a ~ystem." Namibia's population is estimated to grow by 3.0 percent each year between 1985-1990, but the urban population has grown at nearly twice this rate as people migrate to the towns in search of employment. Nujoma's government has indicated that it will give priority to organize and develop the agricultural sector to feed the nation and absorb the thousands of jobless. According to statistics, per capita food production has fallen consistently over the past two decades. In 1974, per capita food production was 140.26 percent of the 1980 production. By 1985, it had fallen to 83.69 percent of per capita food production in 1980. Nujoma said his government would encourage large commercial farming. Peasants, he added, should pursue subsistence farming for the immediate future needs with the state providing extension services, better equipment, training, markets and transport. INTER PRESS SERVICE INTERNATIONAL NEWS FRIDAY MARCH 23, 1990 NAMIBIA: WITH INDEPENDENCE, COMES THE TASK OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT by Claude Robinson NEW YORK, March 23 (IPS) -- With the long and bitter struggle for political independence finally over, Namibia's new leaders and United Nations officials are embarking on the related, and perhaps, equally difficult task of economic development. "We inherited a lopsided and underdeveloped economy," President Sam Nujoma told an independence rally in the sports stadium in the capital, Windhoek, March 21, as Namibia celebrated its first day of freedom from South African control. "We confront major economic difficulties," said Nujoma. The difficulties include a $200-million budget deficit largely incurred by South African borrowing to finance the war against SWAPO and low taxation of the foreign firms in Namibia. There is also 30 percent unemployment and, according to President Nujoma, two-thirds of the population are poor "by our More? .. (Yes or No) -- standards and by the standards of the world." South African President Frederick de Klerk paints a rosier picture -- the infrastructure created by Pretoria makes Namibia "well equipped for the economic challenges that lie ahead." What's not contested and has been documented by the United Nations is that the economic structure created by South Africa has benefitted the white minority and the foreign firms that exploited the huge mineral resources and fisheries. "A comprehensive international aid program will be essential for Namibia to consolidate its newly independent status, stabilize its finances and generate sustainable growth," concludes a new U.N. publication "Namibia Outlook", released here this week. The United Nations will convene a donors' meeting in Windhoek in June because, in the words of Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, "it is now the duty of the United Nations system to help Namibia consolidate its independence and achieve political and economic stability and rapid progress." The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank are preparing a major review of the economy, focusing first on fiscal and balance of payments requirements, for the donors' conference. Meanwhile, there is support for the Namibia trust fund launched by William Draper, administrator of (UNDP) last September and early More? .. (Yes or No) -- indications are that about $100 million in external aid will be forthcoming in the first year of independence. Foreign aid flows notwithstanding, the new leaders in Namibia and outside observers say that the most urgent task is to restructure the economy to unlink it from South Africa, reduce the massive dependence on the export of minerals and other primary commodities and provide some equity for the black majority. Namibia, a sprawling country of 823,000 square kilometers, has a population of somewhere between 1.2 And 1.6 million, giving it a density of 1.5 persons per square kilometer compared to 18 per square kilometer for Africa as a whole. Although the harsh and fragile environment severely limits agricultural possibilities, the economy "is potentially one of the most productive in Africa," says the U.N. document. Namibia is the fourth largest mineral producer on the continent and just beyond its 1,600 mile coastline lies one of the world's best fishing sources. The U.N. document points out, "the economy is inherently weak" because it is based almost entirely on the primary export sector and is subject to the uncertainties of the international commodity markets. About 57 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GOP) -- which More? .. (Yes or No) amounted to $1.43 billion in 1988 -- consists of exports to hard currency markets. However, a significant proportion of this does not return to the Namibian economy but to the South African, British, Canadian and United States firms that own the key export sectors. The foreign owned mineral sector accounted for 72 percent of export earnings which totalled about $850 million in 1988. Diamonds accounted for 27 percent with the other major minerals being base metals like copper, lead, zinc, tin, and the precious metals gold and silver as well as uranium. As the country moved towards independence over the past decade, there was rapid extraction of minerals and little reinvestment as the transnational corporations sought to maximize their profits. At current rates of extraction, the diamond industry controlled by Consolidated Diamond Mines (COM) will be exhausted in 15 years, the "Namibia Outlook" document. says. Agriculture is also pr.imari.ly- org~nized for export of beef and Karakul pelts, used to make luxury garments abroad. The 80,000 whites who own 65 percent of the land control export agriculture. Some 70 percent of Namibians directly or indirectly depend on agriculture for a living yet this sector contributes less than 9 percent to the GOP as there is low output in the peasant sector. More? .
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