The Public Service Commission says a study would be required to look into the realities of the size of the public service and determine what works for the country.

The ever-increasing size of the public service has drawn several opinions and views, following President Hage Geingob's meeting with the Public Service Commission leadership a month ago.

During the meeting, the President asked the Commission to look into the size of public service, considering the unsustainably high wage bill of N$29 billion.

Chairperson Salmaan Jacobs puts this into context, saying the exercise would require studies and benchmarking.

At independence, the number of employees in public service was N$30 000.

This number includes those who were employed under the apartheid administration.

Security clusters are to employ up to 4 000 uniformed forces during the current financial year as announced during the State of the Nation Address.

Their employment is partly driven by the looming retirements of up to 50% of members within the Namibian Police and the NDF as of 2024.

Policy analysts, however, have a different view on ways to cut and maintain the wage bill.

The Namibian government, like a number of other countries in Africa, remains the largest employer in the economy, despite a number of interventions to stimulate private sector growth.

Institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank argue that high public sector employment may lower overall productivity in an economy and they continue to advocate for reform.

Other suggestions are for governments to create a simpler pay structure and reduce the number of allowances on top of public servants' base pay.