Municipality Should Help Ease Crises

EVEN AS Covid-19 rages, one news item remains dominant when it comes to the Windhoek municipality: A catfight between chief executive officer Robert Kahimise and his police manager, Abraham Kanime, including their salaries. Kahimise is paid N$350 000 a month compared to Kanime’s N$208 000.

Outsiders may struggle to understand the heart of the issue, but it’s no stretch of the imagination to conclude that money and egos are always part of a debilitating power play.

By contrast, what is conspicuously absent is news from Namibia’s biggest municipality on any relief for its rate- and taxpayers amid the hardship caused by measures taken to curb the coronavirus.

Actually, the municipality was in the news this week, but only to complain about a lack of cash and that residents may be using the Covid-19 crisis to tap more water than they normally need. How rich is that!

What the capital city and other municipalities ignore is that most residents, especially ratepayers, have fallen on hard times. Now, more than ever, Windhoek residents need their city managers to step up to the plate and reduce the burden on the people.

Sadly, the catfight lends weight to suspicions that councillors and municipal managers are more focused on personal gain than public interest.

Every year for the past two decades, if not longer, the Windhoek municipality has increased the price of water, electricity and other essential services. Two years ago, it doubled property taxes. Those increases have often been above inflation. Other local authorities often copy the capital city.

The nearly N$7 million in combined salaries for Kahimise and Kanime may point to why the municipality continues to demand more from its ratepayers with no noticeable improvement in infrastructure and services. Juxtapose the N$7m to the N$10m the central government budgeted so that municipalities can provide water due to Covid-19.

It is also worth asking why the Windhoek municipality pays its managers on par, perhaps even more, than cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg. Cape Town has a population of 4,6m and a budget of more than N$52 billion. Johannesburg’s budget of N$64,5 billion in 2019/2020 was about the same as that for the entire Namibia – even during good times. Egoli residents number about 5,6 million.

What are we missing that Windhoek – with a budget of N$6 billion and fewer than 400 000 residents – pays its managers the same or more than cities with bigger responsibilities?

It is time that Namibians applied pressure to rein in our millionaire state employees.

In some countries, the pay scale of public officials is capped to avoid wrong incentives in citizens choosing government employment over the private sector, which is the engine of the economy.

During a health pandemic of this magnitude – on top of our long-running economic crises – municipalities should not have to think twice about cutting their salaries and perks to provide relief for residents, many of whom have lost part or all of their income.

It is worrying that politicians and bureaucrats, who depend on taxpayer revenue, unashamedly continue to pocket the same salaries.

Politicians and bureaucrats need to experience the same struggles citizens have endured over the past four years. Only then will they appreciate what it might take to fix Namibia to avoid becoming a basket case at the mercy of other countries.

Now it is time for them to deliver.

Matter of Fact: Last week’s editorial stated that finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi signed the Chinese loan for the building of Namibia’s international airport amid the suspension of public bidding for government works. Shiimi has told The Namibian the airport project has not reached him yet and that he had urgent challenges to deal with. The Namibian apologises for the mistake and for any inconvenience caused.

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