Statement by His Excellency Dr. Nangolo Mbumba, President of the Republic of Namibia on the Occasion of the Official Opening of the First Cabinet Meeting for the Year 2025. Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning and welcome to the Official Opening of Cabinet which will be in session for the first quarter of the year. After all the hard work that you have put in during the year 2024, I am confident that you have returned to your respective Offices, Ministries and Agencies with renewed zeal and dedication to complete the work that we started on the 21st of March 2015, under the leadership of President Hage G. Geingob. Since we marked the one-year anniversary of his passing yesterday, let us rise for a moment of silence in his memory. I also take this opportunity to convey a message of strength and goodwill to our Founding President and Father of the Namibian Nation, President Sam Nujoma who is currently under medical observation. The past 12 months have been extremely challenging due to persistent droughts. However, following very tough Presidential and National Assembly Elections last year, we are looking forward to the inauguration of our 5th President and first female Head of State, Her Excellency, Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, on March 21, 2025. I also take this opportunity to congratulate those of you who will be returning to the National Assembly. I also thank you for having played your part in ensuring that the SWAPO Party retains the reins of Government, and for guaranteeing collectively the victory of Her Excellency Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Cabinet is one of those pivotal institutions in our Constitutional Democracy, which is accountable to the people of Namibia. Therefore, as Cabinet members we must continue to serve with utmost loyalty and dedication, in the most responsible and effective manner. The Official Opening of the First Cabinet meeting of the year is not merely ceremonial. It is an occasion where we are all reminded of our Constitutional obligation as members of the Executive, to uphold the principles of Transparency, Effective Governance, Accountability and Ethical Leadership. In 2024, Cabinet held 22 Decision-Making meetings, during which 320 Cabinet Decisions were made. Moreover, two-hundred and twenty-nine (229) were policy initiatives; thirty-two (32) administrative matters; forty-two (42) statutory submissions; and seventeen (17) legislations. As we move to the end of the work of this Cabinet, these should not just be numbers - our decisions should translate into a better quality of life for Namibians. Decisions of cabinet must lead to economic growth, employment creation, and poverty eradication for all our citizens including the youth. In the coming weeks, we should spare no effort to ensure that all the dossiers; all the programmes and all activities that can be concluded ahead of 20 March 2025, are concluded including on the Green Schemes which I visited last year. Equally, we should implement policy and cabinet decisions to stimulate economic growth and to deal with the bottlenecks that hamper service delivery to Namibians. As we conclude our business in the coming weeks, I am pleased with the economic prospects that lie ahead, mainly driven by mining, oil and gas, critical raw materials as well as green hydrogen. The Namibian economy has recovered to its pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels and growth in the non-mineral economy, specifically tourism is opening up opportunities for job creation in 2025, and beyond. This occasion also marks my final Cabinet Opening, however, we will only say our goodbyes and thank-you at the last Cabinet meeting. Until then, we have work to do. I urge all Ministers to finalize their handing-over reports and submit to the Office of the President via the Right Honorable Prime Minister. Let’s roll up our sleeves and put in the hard work ahead of the inauguration of the new Government on March 21st. I thank you.