Council mistakes exposed it to unnecessary lawsuits: LAC

MISPLACED priorities and a lack of political will at the Windhoek Municipality have exposed the City to potential law suits, as its recently approved budget will hamper the local authority in meeting its statutory and constitutional obligations to provide basic services, the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) said yesterday.

‘The budget that the City Council approved will in fact negate the very aim of making the city a livable place for all its residents,’ LAC Director Norman Tjombe said.His attack is the latest in a series of outcries since the City Council approved their controversial N$1,8 billion budget on June 30. Organised labour, the Namibian Employers Federation (NEF), non-governmental organisations and political parties have all voiced their disapproval with the spending plans of the City.The National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) is currently preparing to file an urgent interdict at the High Court to try and stop the municipality from implementing the budget.Meanwhile, City Chief Executive Officer Niilo Taapopi, during a live broadcast of Talk of the Nation on NBC Television on Monday night, indicated that the municipality is willing to change the budget.Asked whether every single item of expenditure in the budget is ‘vital’, Taapopi said yes. However, he added that not everybody agrees with this and revisiting the budget is therefore possible.In the LAC statement, Tjombe said the proposed rate hikes of between 10 and 15 per cent won’t just ‘expose the City to potential lawsuits to compel it to implement programs and projects to ensure that everyone enjoys the most basic services like clean water and adequate housing, but will cause severe hardships to a large number of residents already struggling under the yoke of an economic crisis, unemployment and poverty’.’It can never be justified that the City will spend in excess of N$1,4 million on entertainment, allowances and staff parties, and then only providing a paltry stipend of N$47 000 for the Katutura Old Age Home,’ he said.It is not a case of a lack of money, as there are clearly sufficient funds, Tjombe said.'(It is) simply the lack of political will and misplaced priorities on the part of the political leadership and managers of the City of Windhoek.’In an ongoing investigation into the 2009-10 municipal budget, The Namibian has established that the City has increased its refreshment budget by 115 per cent this year.Membership fees, at N$498 000, have jumped by 98 per cent.The Namibian has been trying in vain to get the municipality to say which memberships the City enjoys.Cellphone expenses are up 75 per cent, donations 33 per cent and corporate wear a staggering 485,2 per cent. The latter is spent on uniforms for executive secretaries, cashiers and staff in customer care centres.’Other allowances’, which include tool allowances for artisans and technicians, stand-by allowances and inconvenience allowances for staff working on the sewerage rings, have increased by 80 per cent.’The City must gradually, but in a radical fashion, seek to transform our society where large numbers of people are living in want and abject poverty, into a society where everyone is in reach of quality and affordable services,’ the LAC said.jo-mare@namibian.com.na