Power To The People

GOVERNANCE, or rather a shoddy variation thereof, combined with growing deficits in social and welfare delivery have now become commonplace in every diagnosis on the health of our country.

The causality between the two is also obvious as the latter is a consequence of the first. The judicious administration of the common wealth of a nation and its national purse constitute core pillars of good governance.Public administration theory holds that a government which seeks to devolve the exercise of power to the lowest possible level enhances greater participation and ‘democracy’. In our case, whereas power was devolved, albeit not in a democratic fashion, but through nominated and discriminatory process, it is the regional councils which are a creature of our post-independence political and administrative architecture. Others may argue that regional councils have simply filled the void left by Bantustans.To be sure, the regional councils are, so to speak, in two categories: those in (more) rural areas have found a vocation; but regional councils in urban areas largely seem to be duplicating the municipal brief – both in geography and purported function (except in holding Christmas parties for the elderly – which is, we believe, not something to be sneered at!).In considering the case for governance at regional level, we wish to do this through the prism of accountability and finance. And in this regard the republican constitution seems to be a good place to start.Article 125(3)(c) makes provision for blanket subsidies to regional and local authorities. In addition, in the case of regional councils, five percent rateable tax from local authorities in each region is levied to fund the activities of regional councils.In terms of the Regional Councils Act, 1992 (Act No 22) the Regional Councils appear to have wide range of powers and functions. We shall, however, only cite here those which have relevance for finance and accountability. And these are:* to exercise, in connection with its region, such powers and to perform the duties and functions connected with such powers as may be delegated by the President to the Regional Councils in terms of section 29; * subject to provisions of Part VII to establish, manage and control settlement areas;* to make, for the purposes of the preparations of the Estimates of Expenditure to be presented to the National Assembly in terms of Article 126 of the Namibian Constitution, recommendations to the Minister of Finance in so far as it relates to matters concerning its region;* to acquire or hire, or hypothecate, let sell or otherwise dispose of movable property;* with the approval of the Minister previously obtained in general or in every particular case and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be determined by him/her-I) acquire or hire, or hypothecate, let, sell or otherwise dispose of immoveable property in any right in respect of immoveable property; andii) borrow money from time to time by way of loans from any source within Namibia and against the security which the Regional Council may deem fit or the issue of debentures, bills of exchange and other negotiable instruments.We chose to spell the above out in detail because the question of fiscal federalism is at the core of (viable) decentralisation as the Regional Councils’ Act sets out to do. Currently, most Regional Councils have little or no capacity to carry out rudimentary functions except supervising central government projects; nor do they have any regular or predictable sources of income save the contribution of five percent of rateable income from each local authority in the regions.Maybe that is the reason why the Khomas Regional Council will soon be selling you a combo of family size matangara, two vetkoekies and a bottle of punja punja at Park Foods in Khomasdal?Perhaps the tabling of audited reports at regional councils’ level may allow citizens to gain an insight into how and where the funds were applied, and whether this is efficiently and effectively done. In this sense, the matrix of accountability to the central authorities (but also to peers, and more importantly, the people) will be achieved.With the recent (2010) amendment of the Special Advisors and Regional Governors Appointment Amendment Act 9 Act No.15 of 2010) the constitutional and legal terrain of regional government is muddled. This is because the appointment of governors runs counter to the very heart of devolution of power whose intent is to enhance local democracy. This is considered in view of the constitutional provision (Article 102(3) which states in peremptory terms that ‘every organ of regional and local government shall have a Council as the principal body freely elected [our emphasis] with an executive and administration which shall carry out all lawful resolutions and policies of such Council, subject to this constitution and any other relevant law.’There is a need for serious re-examination of this in the interest of good governance and fiscal rectitude. * Tsudao Gurirab was a Member of Parliament from 2000 – 2010. He can be contacted at: t.gurirab@gmail.com