Day: February 28, 2024

RUNDU: Chairperson of the Kavango East Regional Council, Damian Maghambayi said the incident in which two girls died and six other children were hospitalised from suspected food poisoning at Livayi village, needs to be addressed holistically.

Maghambayi told Nampa in an interview on Wednesday that an educational campaign is needed in the region.

Last year, 16 people died at Kayova village, also in the Ndiyona Constituency where Livayi is situated, from suspected food poisoning.

It was alleged that a family of 24 people became severely ill after eating porridge made from flour with an additive of dried pounded fermented sediment from a homemade beverage known locally as mundevere.

‘I just realised that we need to conduct more education around this issue. I remember when the Kayova incident took place, as Government we only focused on the affected family household and forgot to actually address the issue holistically in the region. We made sure the family received counselling and humanitarian aid,’ Maghamba
yi said.

Regional and Central Government forgot to view the issue as a societal one and the issue therefore became sensitised, he added.

Maghambayi said he learnt from the Livayi incident that a 12-year-old child reportedly prepared the food the family consumed.

‘Where were the elders when this was happening?’ he asked.

He said he understands that parents or elders could be in the field working, however, children that age should cook under an older person’s supervision.

He noted that in the Kayova incident, it was also a young child who had cooked food for the family, before stating that it is a common occurrence in the region.

‘We just need to look at this matter holistically to get to the bottom of it,’ he said.

The chairperson said the regional leadership is still in touch with the Office of the Prime Minister, looking at how best to continue assisting the affected family at Kayova.

Currently for the Livayi incident, he said the Ministry of Health and Social Services had a meeting with the governor
of the region to give him an update on what transpired.

Meanwhile on the topic of drought relief, Maghambayi said distribution started in October last year and is ongoing until July this year.

‘Currently distribution is taking place in the Ndiyona Constituency where Livayi is and beneficiaries are expected to receive food every month,’ he indicated.

Per household, beneficiaries get a 20kg bag of maize meal, four tins of fish, four bottles of cooking oil and five kilogrammes of soya beans, he said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

OTJIWARONGO: Minister of Finance, Iipumbu Shiimi on Wednesday announced an increase in the budget of the Ministry of Mines and Energy of more than 50 per cent for the 2024/25 financial year.

He made this announcement during the tabling of the 2024/2025 National Budget in the National Assembly.

The N.dollars 381.9 million allocation in total is meant to improve the capacity at the ministry, especially in the Petroleum Affairs Directorate in light of the upsurge in exploration activities in the Orange Basin.

Furthermore, the development budget of the same ministry was also doubled with N.dollars 131 million, which is aimed at fast-tracking rural electrification and improve access to electricity countrywide, Shiimi stated.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

RUNDU: Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises Iipumbu Shiimi said that over the preceding Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), the ministry maintained a policy stance to not consider new tax policy proposals.

Shiimi said this when he delivered the Financial Year 2024/25 (FY2024/25) Budget Statement in the National Assembly in Windhoek on Wednesday.

He said the new tax policy proposals not to be considered are those with the potential to stifle economic recovery and compromise the emerging growth prospects.

‘Broadly, we still maintain the same view, and as such this budget continues specific tax policy proposals aimed at providing some relief to taxpayers with the aim to boost domestic demand and broaden the tax base to improve revenue mobilisation,’ he said.

The minister said the FY2024/25 budget has made provision to provide tax relief to low-income earners.

‘In this regard, we will increase the threshold for Income Tax on Individuals from the current N.dollars 50 000 to N.dollars 100 000,’ he
stated.

This action, he explained, will result in an injection of N.dollars 646.0 million directly into the pockets of taxpayers.

Shiimi said effectively, all individual taxpayers will be exempted from paying tax on the first N.dollars 100 000 of their income as from 01 March 2024.

The revised tax tables will be published accordingly.

‘Furthermore, we have made provisions in the two outer years of the MTEF to adjust all tax brackets for inflation creep. In this regard, a total of N.dollars 712.9 million per annum in direct relief to taxpayers has been provided for,’ Shiimi said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

OPUWO: Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Iipumbu Shiimi presented an N.dollars 100 billion budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday for the fiscal year 2024/25, with more than 20 per cent of the budget dedicated to economic and infrastructural development.

Shiimi stated that the budget makes specific provision for infrastructure development to close infrastructure gaps and give greater impetus to Namibia’s economic growth objectives while tabling the budget in the National Assembly under the theme ‘Continuing the Legacy of President Hage Geingob by Caring for the Namibian Child.’

‘In this regard, a total of N.dollars 20.9 billion in FY2024/25 and some N.dollars 58.9 billion over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), inclusive of projects funded through external loans, has been allocated to the sector ministries responsible for carrying out the construction of infrastructure and implementation of economic policies. Collectively, these make up 23.9 per cent of the total budget,’ noted Shiimi
.

According to the finance minister, Transport will receive a total of N.dollars 5.1 billion, including N.dollars 1.9 billion in projects funded by external loans and grants.

In addition to accelerating railway network upgrades, Shiimi stated that the funding will include N.dollars 1.8 billion for the completion of ongoing road development projects.

A budget of N.dollars 431 million has been set out for airport infrastructure in FY2024/25. The vote will get N.dollars 14.5 billion under the MTEF.

The minister announced that N.dollars 1.9 billion has been allocated to Agriculture and Land Reform in FY2024/25. This includes N.dollars 50 million for land purchases to support generational farm workers and N.dollars 87 million for improving animal health and marketing in communal areas.

Furthermore, Shiimi boosted the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade budget by 31.7 per cent to N.dollars 365.5 million this year, for a total of N.dollars 1.2 billion over the MTEF, to assist SMEs and domestic economic acti
vities.

‘In this context, funding has been allocated to the Equipment Aid Scheme, Start-Up Namibia and EMPRETEC Namibia to facilitate domestic trade activity and build domestic entrepreneurship capacity, especially for SMEs. Furthermore, we have made financial provision for increased funding to the Namibia Standards Institute and the Namibia Competition Commission, as well as an increase in the development budget for various capital projects to support entrepreneurial activities nationwide,’ he added.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

RUNDU: Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi on Wednesday said the Financial Year 2024/25 budget will lift mandatory registration threshold for Value Added Tax (VAT) from N.dollars 500 000 to N.dollars 1 million.

Shiimi made the statement when he delivered this year’s budget statement in the National Assembly in Windhoek.

According to the minister, increasing the threshold will relieve approximately 23 000 small and medium enterprises from VAT administration, which will enable them to focus on their core activities, while simultaneously freeing capacity at the Namibia Revenue Agency to focus on large taxpayers.

Shiimi also confirmed the introduction of the Internship Tax Incentive Programme as previously announced. The programme is aimed at further incentivising employers to enrol more interns by providing an additional corporate tax deduction.

The total financial implication for government is estimated at N.dollars 126 million.

Shiimi said the budget also proposes building improveme
nt deductions to address the issue of urban decay within inner cities and to maintain existing infrastructure, while encouraging investment.

‘In this regard, a capital depreciation allowance of 10 per cent each year will be applicable on the costs of buildings erected, added to, extended or improved and which are used for trade purposes,’ he stated.

Shiimi further indicated that as a measure to support improved access to housing, the brackets for transfer duties and stamp duties will be adjusted for inflation.

Accordingly, the exempt level will be lifted from N.dollars 600 000 to N.dollars 1.1 million.

Moreover, the threshold to trigger the transfer duty rate of 8 per cent will be increased to N.dollars 3.15 million effective this financial year.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency