ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE 18TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY AND INAUGRATION
OF THE NEW STATE HOUSE


21 MARCH 2008 WINDHOEK


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Director of Ceremonies
Your Excellency, Dr Sam Nujoma, Father of the Namibian Nation
Your Excellency, Comrade Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Right Honourable Prime Minister
Honourable Deputy Prime Minister
Honourable Speaker of the National Assembly
Honourable Chairperson of the National Council
Your Honour, the Chief Justice

General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, National Hero of the Republic of Cuba, Commander of the Western Army, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party and Member of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba

Honourable Ministers
Honourable Members of Parliament
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Service Chiefs
Honourable Regional and Local Authority Councillors
Esteemed Traditional Leaders
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Fellow Namibians,

At the very outset, I would like to kindly request you to rise, so that we can all observe a minute of silence in honour of the late Comrade John Alfons Pandeni who passed away in a tragic vehicle accident on 14 March 2008. (I thank you, you may be seated).

Today, we celebrate the 18th Anniversary of the attainment of our nationhood. As we gather here today, we recall the heartening events of that historic day, when we hoisted our flag of freedom and sovereignty for the first time. We recall how we celebrated the lowering of the apartheid flag of oppression, in the knowledge that it would never again fly as a symbol of authority over our country. The events of that historic day are still vivid in our memories.

We can look back with pride at the many successes that were achieved after independence in many areas of social and economic development. We are proud, and rightly so, of the peace and stability that our country has enjoyed since that joyful day of 21 March 1990.

Freedom and independence has in many ways unleashed the potential of our people who have taken advantage of their liberty to make tangible contributions to the development of our country. Many of those who were denied opportunities by apartheid tyranny are today contributing meaningfully in shaping a brighter future for the Land of the Brave.

Our hopes for a better future are reinforced when we look at the flourishing youth, a new generation of the “born-frees”, Namibians who were born into a society free from war, victimization, intimidation, racial discrimination and oppression. These blossoming youth represent a new generation, the torch-bearers of our democratic traditions and our country’s future. As we sing that our democracy is maturing, the “born-frees” will, as from this year for the first time be able to exercise their democratic right of participating in elections at different levels.

The peace and political stability that our country has enjoyed over the years is one of the major achievements of our country and fitting tribute to the fallen heroes and heroines of our revolution whose blood waters our freedom.

In this climate of stability and peace, we have been able to implement policies and programmes aimed at improving the living conditions of our people.
In the face of numerous challenges and backlogs, progress has been made in many areas of social and economic development to expand service delivery and access to public amenities.

Access to education has been expanded in all parts of the country. Literacy and numeracy levels have increased. More Namibians have access to health care as the number of clinics, hospitals and health centres have grown. Housing projects have been implemented in our urban centres as well as rural settlements. The National electricity grid has been extended to cater for the growth of our towns and cities. Rural electrification has changed the face of many rural communities across Namibia.

Moreover, physical and communication infrastructures have reached even the remote parts of the country. New roads have been built to facilitate economic activities and trade as well as to ensure safer movement of people and goods. Our railway network has been expanded by more than 300 kilometers. The rehabilitation of roads and railways has enjoyed ongoing attention of our SWAPO PARTY Government.
Telephone connectivity has grown with both fixed lines and cellular communications. Increasing numbers of Namibians are joining the digital age through the use of the internet and related technologies. I can, therefore, proudly say that, despite the challenges, Namibians have many reasons to be proud on this occasion of the 18th Anniversary of our country’s freedom and independence.

This year, our Independence Anniversary celebration is coinciding with the inauguration of the new State House, a symbol of our nationhood and sovereignty. I wish, at this juncture, to thank His Excellency Comrade Sam Nujoma, Father of the Namibian Nation, for his vision and conceptualization of this project. This is one of the projects that were initiated during your tenure of office as President of the Republic of Namibia.

Your devotion to nation building and infrastructure development is admired by all patriotic Namibians. It serves as an inspiration to all peace-loving and patriotic citizens of our Republic. I want to assure you that the present leadership of our SWAPO PARTY Government will continue to build on the strong foundation that has already been laid under your leadership.
We will work tirelessly for the economic and social well-being of all Namibians. To many Namibians, you will go down in the history of our country as one of the great sons of Namibia who contributed immensely to the liberation of our Motherland. For this, we say, once again, thank you very much for what you have done for the Namibian people. May God continue to bless you.

Few years ago, a decision was taken to construct a new seat for the Namibian Presidency. The construction site was handed over to the Mansudae Overseas Project Group from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 2002. This marked the beginning of the construction of the complex. During the construction period, about forty (40) local companies were engaged as sub-constructors.

The sub-contractors were assigned work such as electrical installations and air-conditioning among others. Plant and equipment were also hired from local suppliers and hundreds of jobs were created. Thus, local companies and workers have benefited greatly, not only in terms of financial earnings, but also with regard to valuable experiences and skills that Namibian workers gained during the construction of a project of this magnitude.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend all the people who have been involved in the completion of this project for their hard-work, dedication, sharp skills and professionalism.

Your hard work has gone a long way in enhancing our sovereignty and nationhood. I know that a conscious decision was made that as far as possible, local construction materials and decorations should be used to give the building a truly Namibian character. As a result, local materials such as wood, granite and steel have been used extensively. Our guests will, therefore, be pleased to see how these local materials have been blended together to create an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere, incorporating many representations of our country’s wide natural and cultural diversity.

There have been some concerns raised about the timing or even the need for this project. In this regard, I wish to say that this is a national asset which belong to no one else but the people of Namibia. It is a project that had to be completed as part of our institution building strategy for our country.

For those who are not aware, the office space in the existing State House, from where Namibian Presidents have operated since independence, is very inadequate. As a result, officials are crammed into small offices, while others are forced to share these small spaces. Surely, such a situation is not conducive for effective execution of important duties that these officials are charged with.

I wish to stress that as a Government, we are fully aware of what our priorities are. It is for this reason that this project was started many years after Cabinet declared top four priorities of our Government, namely, education, health, agriculture and housing. This is borne out by the forward-looking policies and budgetary allocations we have consistently made to these priority areas in order to improve service delivery, expand access so that all Namibians can enjoy the fruits of independence.

The completion of this project adds to the list of other capital projects that have been successfully implemented by our SWAPO PARTY Government.


These include the construction of new roads in different parts of our country, the rehabilitation of roads and railway lines, the completion of Phase One of the Northern Railway Extension Project, the building of Regional and Constituency Offices across Namibia, the expansion of water pipelines, the building of new schools and clinics and many other projects. The list is endless.

We will continue to implement projects and programmes to facilitate economic growth and improve the living conditions of our people. This year, the construction of the Rundu-Elundu Road, via Nkurenkuru will start. This will lead to the construction of a tarred road of more than 300 kilometres. This road will enable safer movement of people and goods in that part of our country. It will promote trade and commerce, thereby enabling our people who engage in income generating projects to reach markets.

Director of Ceremonies,

As we celebrate this joyful occasion of our 18th Independence Anniversary, our thoughts are with the thousands of our compatriots who have been displaced by the floods in the north and north east of our country.
The floods have devasted many communities and destroyed valuable properties and assets.

The livelihoods and sources of income of many people have been destroyed. Our Government is monitoring the flood situation closely and continuously. We have already started to implement rescue operations to take the affected people to safety and to provide them with food, medicines and water purification tablets.

The impact of the flood is going to be devasting for our country, especially in terms of the destruction of infrastructures such as houses, schools, clinics, businesses and roads. A few weeks ago, I declared the flood situation in our country a national disaster. We are going to work tirelessly to ameliorate the impact of the floods.

It is important that we work with resolve and dedication so that our people can rebuild their lives after the floods. At this juncture, I would like to express sincere thanks to the Namibian business community, NGOs, individual citizen and our development cooperation partners for the financial and material assistance that they have rendered to this flood victims.

Director of Ceremonies,

Namibia is honoured to receive and host His Excellency Comrade Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, during this auspicious occasion of our 18th Independence Anniversary and the Inauguration of the New State House.

Your presence here, Your Excellency, is a re-affirmation of the strong bonds of friendship and co-operation that so happily exist between our two countries and peoples. These bonds have stood the test of time as they date back to the years of Namibia’s struggle for national liberation and independence under the leadership of SWAPO.
Your country provided the Namibian people with valuable political and material support that enabled us to wage a successful struggle and to dislodge the apartheid colonial machinery from our country.

Co-operation between our two countries has been growing over the years and one aspect of this has been the participation of Korean citizens in the construction of this building.
I feel it is fitting and we are honoured indeed that you could join us on this occasion.

I am happy and proud that, this new State House, the people’s house, has been completed. It will provide the staff members of the Office of the President with improved working facilities. This will enable the Office of the President to carry out its work and its mandate more effectively in line with our national development plans and Vision 2030.

The new facilities will indeed provide an appropriate environment as the Office strives for excellence in service delivery and effectiveness. This inauguration paves the way for the relocation of staff members to the new building in the coming weeks and months.

I wish to take this opportunity to commend all the people who were involved in this project for a job well-done. The High Level Technical Committee, architects, the engineers, the artisans, the contractors, the sub-contractors and others who have worked here for the past few years. We thank you wholeheartedly for your toil and your sweat.
You have built the people’s house that stands as a symbol of the tenacity of the people of Namibia.

Civil servants who will work within these walls should, at all times, serve the interest of the Namibian people. They should pursue national development agenda in all their official actions. This State House was built to facilitate and enable the Office of the President to accomplish its mandate. The people of Namibia expect the Office of the President, the highest office in the land, to lead by example, to be the epitome of efficiency and effectiveness in-service delivery. I trust that with this new facility, the Office of the President will live up to that noble expectation.

I call upon all Namibian citizens to continue to maintain and promote peace, security and stability. We should cherish and continue to promote the policy of National Reconciliation. We should continue to promote national unity and shun the vices of tribalism, regionalism, ethnicity, racial discrimination, sexism and corruption. We should continue to pay tribute to our fallen heroes and heroines whose blood waters our freedom. Let us keep Namibia a winning nation among the community of nations.

On this occasion of our 18th Independence Anniversary and in the presence of all those who have come to witness this historic occasion, it is my distinct honour and privilege to declare, the peoples’ house, the new State House of the Republic of Namibia, officially open, and to wish all our citizens a Happy 18th Independence Anniversary.

Long Live the Republic of Namibia!

I thank you.