Govt ups drive to weed out graft in councils

GOVERNMENT has vowed to harden its stance in stemming corruption and mismanagement within local authorities.

Minister of Local and Regional Government and Housing Joel Kaapanda yesterday officially declared the era of State bailouts for embattled municipalities over. He said Government would only plough money into development projects which would improve infrastructure, attract investment and create more jobs.”It is imperative that new councillors should learn that the Ministry will no longer subsidise local authorities’ recurrent budget,” Kaapanda told a media briefing in Windhoek yesterday.The Minister said local authorities would be forced to raise their revenue through rates and taxes and the sale of water and electricity.Following the recent upsurge in the number of councils embroiled in financial mismanagement and scandal, municipalities will now attempt to start on a clean slate following last month’s elections of new councillors.But inevitably, many new councils will inherit a legacy of poor debt collection and the inability to pay for bulk utilities and personnel.Next week the Ministry will begin a series of induction workshops for new councillors countrywide at a cost of N$500 000.The workshops are aimed at equipping councils with new techniques and management skills which would enhance effective service delivery and good governance.”This induction program will sensitise the new councillors not to fall in the same traps of corruption and mismanagement of Government resources,” said Kaapanda.”Work ethic, and good management behaviour will be inculcated in our councillors in order to become productive, accountable and answerable to the needs and aspirations of their communities.”Councillors will be trained in financial, personnel, land and asset management.Among the training team are former Mayors, experienced councillors and Ministry officials.Kaapanda said it was his Ministry’s aim to encourage councillors to improve their debt collection systems and cut down on personnel expenditure to not more than 30 per cent of their budget.The Minister said the programme had already been tested at Usakos and Bethanie where inefficient administration earlier caused friction and tension between councillors and their communities in recent months.Kaapanda cited the lack of financial management as the root cause for the improper utilisation of funds and corruption at many councils.Local Government Deputy Minister Gerhard Toetemeyer pointed out that while councils themselves were to blame for many irregularities, in many instances poorly qualified administrative staff were compounding the problem.”If local authorities are to function properly we need the right people in the right place,” said Toetemeyer, “employees who are not recruited on merit is going to become a thing of the past.”Toetemeyer said the induction training will be swiftly followed up with a set of rules and regulations for Local Authorities, which the Ministry intends to hand to Cabinet for approval within the next two weeks.Accordingly councils will be forced to submit a financial report to the Ministry every three months and councillors will no longer be permitted to take loans from town coffers.He said Government would only plough money into development projects which would improve infrastructure, attract investment and create more jobs.”It is imperative that new councillors should learn that the Ministry will no longer subsidise local authorities’ recurrent budget,” Kaapanda told a media briefing in Windhoek yesterday.The Minister said local authorities would be forced to raise their revenue through rates and taxes and the sale of water and electricity.Following the recent upsurge in the number of councils embroiled in financial mismanagement and scandal, municipalities will now attempt to start on a clean slate following last month’s elections of new councillors.But inevitably, many new councils will inherit a legacy of poor debt collection and the inability to pay for bulk utilities and personnel.Next week the Ministry will begin a series of induction workshops for new councillors countrywide at a cost of N$500 000.The workshops are aimed at equipping councils with new techniques and management skills which would enhance effective service delivery and good governance.”This induction program will sensitise the new councillors not to fall in the same traps of corruption and mismanagement of Government resources,” said Kaapanda.”Work ethic, and good management behaviour will be inculcated in our councillors in order to become productive, accountable and answerable to the needs and aspirations of their communities.”Councillors will be trained in financial, personnel, land and asset management.Among the training team are former Mayors, experienced councillors and Ministry officials.Kaapanda said it was his Ministry’s aim to encourage councillors to improve their debt collection systems and cut down on personnel expenditure to not more than 30 per cent of their budget.The Minister said the programme had already been tested at Usakos and Bethanie where inefficient administration earlier caused friction and tension between councillors and their communities in recent months.Kaapanda cited the lack of financial management as the root cause for the improper utilisation of funds and corruption at many councils.Local Government Deputy Minister Gerhard Toetemeyer pointed out that while councils themselves were to blame for many irregularities, in many instances poorly qualified administrative staff were compounding the problem.”If local authorities are to function properly we need the right people in the right place,” said Toetemeyer, “employees who are not recruited on merit is going to become a thing of the past.”Toetemeyer said the induction training will be swiftly followed up with a set of rules and regulations for Local Authorities, which the Ministry intends to hand to Cabinet for approval within the next two weeks.Accordingly councils will be forced to submit a financial report to the Ministry every three months and councillors will no longer be permitted to take loans from town coffers.