Namibian President Hage Geingob has ordered a freeze on the purchase of new vehicles for ministers and other public officials over the next five years as part of austerity measures by his government.
In a statement on Thursday, Geingob’s office said the Namibian leader has directed that the vehicle fleet of the Namibian government “will not be renewed for the period 2020-2025.”
“No new vehicles will be purchased for members of the executive and public office bearers in the Namibian government,” the presidency said.
The office said the move by Geingob is expected to translate into approximate savings of N$200 million (about US$10.8 million) over the next five years.
As part of the austerity measures, Geingob also directed that there be a cap on monthly fuel consumption by public office bearers.
The measures come as Namibia is teetering towards an economic crisis, characterised by declining government revenue and worsened by recurrent droughts over the past five years.
In 2019 alone, more than US$30 million was redirected to drought relief for over 600,000 Namibians in the country’s 14 regions.
JN/APA