AGAIN in parliament this week there was talk on the subject of board members of parastatals, amongst others, queries as to how they are chosen, and - never mind what they're paid - whether they have any idea of their roles and functions.

I've probably got different views on this subject than most MPs, and in the first place, I believe that those people appointed to various boards, should at the very best be knowledgeable about the business of the institution they serve in order to facilitate better overall control of the parastatal in question.

Board members are paid high stipends per sitting and the least the taxpayers can expect is the appointment of people who know what they're doing! Again it may come down to the necessity of merit playing an important role in affirmative action, for how can we expect well-managed enterprises if we're putting people at the helm who don't know what the heck they're doing? This applies both to the boards of the institutions in question as well as the chief executive officers.

And it's a situation that will only go from bad to worse when 'comrades' are given preference if the Kapia's of this world have their way! To hear then, parliamentarians talking about the need for 'training' of board members and CEO's is bizarre beyond belief in my view.

With the high salaries and remuneration being paid, surely it is not too much to expect these people to know what they should be doing.

If they still have to be 'trained' in their jobs, then our economy must go from bad to worse.

It's one thing to emphasise the necessity of a trained workforce, and this is indeed a priority; but I object in principle to the state having to spend huge amounts of money 'training' CEO's who are already earning top dollar.

Likewise board members.

It's all well and good to want to represent various constituencies on various boards, but not at the expense of expertise surely? And this is a factor which has, in all likelihood, contributed to the demise of so many parastatals today.

If the combined boards and CEO's don't know what they're doing, then can one, in all conscience, expect anything more than a mess? And we can have commissions and investigations and probes ad nauseam, but unless we identify the real problems, there is unlikely to be any improvement.

If the argument is that we don't have this calibre of qualified Namibians to take over, then the training should take place prior to the appointment, surely, in the form of understudy to the job or otherwise.

I've had brief experience on the Board of the NBC, and although some non-media members made an effort to acquaint themselves with broadcasting issues when accepting their positions, others simply didn't give a damn and really did not contribute to furthering the aims and objectives of the state broadcaster! Probably a similar scenario is in place at other parastatals and when handpicked appointments are made mainly on the basis of party loyalty, then we have even more reason for concern.

So Government could well decide on a maximum remuneration for CEOs.

Why not, after all? If they can determine what a pensioner can live on; or a farm worker for that matter, then likewise they can try and trim the massive budgets of parastatals by paying decent wages, but not allowing astronomical packages for people who collect 4x4's and then go on to cook the books because they can't afford to pay for them.

And while they're about it, they could also try and identify the right people for the right positions; at the very least those who have the acumen to learn about the institution they preside over, rather than promise to 'train' people who have already ostensibly qualified for the job in question.

After all, it's not the employees of these corporations who're messing up.

It's management who doesn't know what its doing.

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