Lawmakers in the National Council are calling for more concerted efforts to address the ongoing drought crisis, following the Minister of Finance's announcement in the midterm budget in the National Assembly.

Swapo MPs Sakeus Nangula and Phillemon Ndjambula commended the government for recognising the drought as a priority.

However, Nangula empathised with the need for additional trained personnel to manage relief efforts and ensure that all affected people receive assistance.

"For example, there is a need to boost the amount of manpower on the ground. The current staffing level is not enough to cater to each community's needs; a lack of manpower affects the delivery of drought to assist those people who are supposed to be beneficiaries. To work with inadequate administration on the ground, parcels are not given to all the people that are in need. Therefore, I appeal to the Office of the Prime Minister to assign more workers to the drought relief programme."

They also welcomed the N$699 million earmarked for drought relief under the Office of the Prime Minister. 

National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) MP Peter Kazongominja supported the allocation but urged that the challenges of the drought relief programme be addressed urgently to ensure effective distribution.

"The drought relief people are really not reaching our people currently. The problem is transport that is challenging in our different constituencies; it is something we need to look into. Drought relief food that is bought gets spoilt within the warehouses because it cannot go out because of transport, and it is delayed up to 3 to 4 months that this food is in this warehouse and cannot reach the beneficiaries."