Pay Politicians Well
IT SOUNDS very awkward and unethical for one to support the 31 percent salary hike or notch adjustment proposed for the political office bearers.
A lot of the objections come about because we do not fully appreciate the liability we have put on the shoulders of our political office bearers. I don’t think it is fair and ethical to have a poor leader, a leader with low self-esteem, or a leader the community looks down upon. It is the responsibility of a given community or government to look after their leaders in position and even those on retirement.
The responsibilities of our political office bearers are many and huge as they cover written and unwritten responsibilities in the job description. Some of our leaders responsibilities are set by the community themselves and not necessarily those of the government. This starts from the legislator who is a member of parliament, then cabinet ministers up to a regional councillor. As a person who has worked very closely with the regional leadership/regional councils I can attest that they are underpaid while their job description is an open book. Regional councillors are members of the regional government making policy for the region and they supervise the regional management.
Duties of the Regional councillor are as follows according the Act 22 of 1992 and Act 30 of 2000 as amended: Chairperson (Regional Councillors) referred to in subsection (1) of section 18 shall, in respect of the region concern be the political head and, in consultation with the regional council concerned (i) initiate and formulate planning and development policies; (ii) closely monitor the implementation of the policies contemplated in subparagraph (i); (iii) initiate the making of regulations by regional councils; and (iv) Initiate the entering into joint business ventures and the commercialisation of services, functions or duties as contemplated in the regulations; (b) have supervisory powers regarding the planning and execution of all development programmes and projects;(c) in any matter referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) be the principal agent of the government; (d) be accountable to the government and to the inhabitants of the region regarding any matter referred to in paragraph (a)or (b); and in consultation with the regional council, investigate, and Endeavour to solve any issue pertaining to the region concerned. [Sec 18A as sec 19A inserted by sec 2 of Act.
While these are the legal duties, there are those unwritten responsibilities. In many cases, poor, marginalised, destitute, unemployed people inundate the offices of the regional councillor asking for their needs to be solved. Because they are hungry and they want to buy food like a bag of maize meal, or don’t have school fees, or some of the bereaved families are asking for money for coffins or even food from the personal pocket of the councillor.
Regional councillors end up spending their small salaries equally with the community. In some communities people expect the regional councillor to be at the funeral of each and every dead person or at their wedding or other family gatherings. These are the demands of the community and is unlikely for the political regional/ constituency head to decline some of these requests. Most of these events do not happen in the radius of less than 10km, mostly overnights and it is expected that at each and every event a councillor must contribute in monetary terms.
In addition the constituency office does not make provision for front desk officers, neither a driver, and as a result most of the councillors hire volunteers from the community and they are paid from the councillor’s salary as regional council’s budget does not make provision for volunteer wages.
People are over-estimating our regional councillors as if they are highly paid public office bearers but they are not. Members of the regional councils do not even qualify for VIP status.
Members of the regional council are paid far below deputy directors. The regional councillor’s basic salary is a top notch of Chief Control Officer and it stands at N$16,260 per month before tax deduction. Our members of the Regional Council get Housing Subsidy of N$ 4,320 taxable and housing not taxed of N$2160, this amount will total about N$3,542 a month for a house monthly payment after tax. It is very rare to find a house for that monthly payment range in most of the proclaimed towns. They only get a travel allowance of N$6,558 taxable but they cannot claim for kilometres travelled for official duty while the civil servant in management can. Political office bearers are not getting 13th cheques while all civil servants, parastatals staff members and some private sectors employees are.
It is our prerogative as the community and the nation to look after our leaders’ well-being. We did not elect these people to be poor and neither to be rich but to have a decent life during office tenure and after their term. Our leaders must always be presentable wherever they are.
Our leaders must have proper housing facilities. They must have decent vehicles or transport means in order to have accessibility whenever the community or the nation call for their services. We must embrace our former leaders always and tap from their wisdom.
Johan Karakov
By email