The Council of Churches of Namibia (CCN) is hosting a capacity-strengthening workshop aimed at equipping church leaders and civil society organisations to address pressing justice issues. 

These include tax justice, public debt, the national budget, and the maximisation of revenues from the extractive industries.

The social justice activist Uhuru Dempers acknowledged the current economic turbulences the country faces, which he said negatively affect government coffers.

"The country is going through its worst economic crises; we have the worsening economic crises, hunger, and hunger that's causing the deaths of our citizens, which includes children, and it's not only in Omaheke Region, but this phenomenon is throughout the country; we have record levels of unemployment, poverty, and inequality; we have a lack of political will to resolve critical issues that remain after we have obtained our independence, such as land reform, the housing crises, the issue of genocide, and generally wealth distribution."

The initiative aims to enhance awareness and encourage advocacy for economic fairness through the church. 

In his speech, Andre September, a theologian, stressed that, despite the country being classified as upper-middle-income, a significant number of its people remain languishing in poverty.

"We are supposed to celebrate, because what it means is that our gross national income per capita has reached such a threshold that, as a country, we are relatively extremely well off, but it is because of the inherent systematic inequality that exists in our country, inequalities that just didn't appear but inequalities that we carry over from pre-independence."

The impacts on Namibia's economy by factors like global capitalism, neo-liberalism, and economic globalisation were other key discussion points.

The workshop also highlighted the need for people-centred development strategies.