A report by the United Nations has revealed that about 56% of households in Nambia are headed by people over the age of 60 or persons with disabilities.
This was revealed during the Bank of Namibia’s 24th annual symposium hosted in the capital recently under the theme ‘Transformation of the Rural Economy in Namibia’.
“The total number of houses headed by either people with disabilities or pensioners in Namibia is 56,1%, the biggest numbers are seen within the rural communities. We acquired this data from Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA),” says United Nations Namibia development officer Eunice Ajambo.
Oshana governor Elia Irimari says push and pull factors cause households to be headed by pensioners.
“A lot of young people are moving away from home in search of greener pastures, so we can say that a lack of opportunities, especially in rural areas, is one of the pushing factors,’’ he says.
Irimari says a lot of rural-urban movement is economically motivated.
Secretary general of the National Federation for People with Disabilities Orben Muluti, says the federation has recorded a number of their members being the primary caretakers of their households.
“A large percentage of people with disabilities live in informal and rural areas, and this translates to homes that are poor. You will find that person becoming the breadwinner, because they receive a N$1 400 grant per month,” he says.
Muluti says the disability grant is supposed to help those with disabilities, but ends up being used to take care of families.
“We are trying to lobby for an increment of the grant, as it does not speak to the current cost of living in the country,” he says.
Rundu Rural constituency councillor Paulus Mbangu says due to the high unemployment rate, a lot of young people are left with no choice but to move to urban areas that offer better services.
“People are moving from rural areas because there is nothing going on there due to a lack of services,” he says.
Mbangu also calls for the decentralisation as a solution to some of challenges.
“We have rural-urban movements because of a lack of decentralisation. In Namibia, we only have decentralisation on paper and it’s not practical.
“At the moment decisions are centralised in Windhoek, and it has not worked for the past 33 years.
“Regional councillors should be given their own budget that would allow them to allocate resources where they are needed.”
Mbangu says the government should offer unemployed people a basic income grant.
Currently the disability and pensioners’ grant in Namibia is N$1 400.
Omaruru constituency councillor Erenst Wether says absent fathers and mothers are the leading cause of homes headed by people above the age of 60.
“What I have seen here is that most times one or both parents would leave their children with grandparents, while they are working elsewhere and visit occasionally – especially during the December holidays – which basically means grandparents become primary caretakers,” he says.
He says in his region about 23% of housholds are headed by pensioners, while 2% are headed by people with disabilities.
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