Leader of the Popular Democratic Movement, McHenry Venaani, posed genocide-related questions to President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah during her State of the Nation Address.

Venaani expressed concerns over the amount of funds that Germany is to pay for the atrocities committed against the Ovaherero and Nama communities as insufficient, likening it to the same budget the government allocates to the education sector in one year.

Venaani said the deal is badly negotiated.

"What kind of negotiation goes on like that? Where is the government's commitment on the figure? What is it that we want as a country? Madam President, would you agree with me on an international dialogue in Namibia, where all the communities inside and outside the framework can come and start agreeing on a national strategy on genocide?"

Answering Venaani's queries, President Nandi-Ndaitwah emphasised that negotiations are still ongoing and they have to balance decisions among different stakeholders, explaining that the current amount is not final and no one can talk about the actual figure.

Venaani also questioned the decision to make tertiary education at public universities free, stating that the government is going to generate more students while there are not enough jobs already for the youth in the country. 

"This is the problem that we are having. We are going to generate more students, equity, and access to education, which is a good thing for people who have jobs for these young people. The only industry that this country has that can produce the employability of young people is the agricultural sector, which creates value change and grows the economy. This economy has not been growing for the last 35 years. It has been growing by less than 3%; we need 7.7% in the country. Why? Strategic approach?"

He noted that the only sector that can produce employment opportunities for the youth is agriculture, which he said is also underfunded with the N$2.6 million budget.

Dr. Nandi-Ndaitwah emphasised that the government has prioritised agriculture, and there are plans to involve the private sector in the green schemes and will offer support to small farmers to contribute to food security.