Prime Minister’s Move A Good One

ALLOW me to welcome the move by Prime Minister Nahas Angula to turn the Cabinet into an effective, well-organised organ of the State.

It is a move long overdue. Good intentions will also go a long way if Cabinet Action Letters are implemented speedily and efficiently.The efficiency of Cabinet Committees is also important as well as the competence of the Permanent Secretaries serving on them.Here again comes in the question of productivity and efficiency.What is going on with the second cellular licence? When will Namibia’s MTC see some competition? The market is open, but the implementation and the progress on this particular issue is painfully slow.Where is the hiccup? Considering what has transpired recently, it would be good if at the same time, Board members of parastatals and state owned/bankrolled enterprises and “investment arms” of government were duly scrutinised and appointed for the skills and contributions they can make to enhance the productivity of these instances.Incompetence and opportunism should be rooted out in order to avoid any further squandering of public funds, no conflict of interest can be tolerated.There are still some newly appointed/re-appointed Board members who do not have a good track record.Some of these people came from companies that went bankrupt during their tenures and again they are entrusted with public funds.The sad thing is that a lot of companies that were established were supposed to be, or could have been for the good of Namibia, its people and development.It is a pity that these companies/entities came to be regarded as vehicles for self-enrichment by some unscrupulous souls.What criteria were used for appointment of Boards/Directorships of these parastatals and state owned/bankrolled companies? May we know more about Board members/Directors so that we, the public, can judge for ourselves? Could we have the names of Board members of parastatals and state-owned enterprises publicised so that the public can see who is in charge of their hard-earned money? Could the annual financial statements of these companies/entities also be published, so that we can see regularly where the money went? The GIPF, upon retirement of a member, pays out one third of the pension benefit in cash, which is non-taxable, the other to-thirds of the pension benefit is retained by this institution.The person is then paid out a portion of his/her salary, which amounts to only five percent of the annual return on the two-thirds retained by the GIPF.The person does not have an option to transfer the balance of the two-thirds to a guardian fund where the capital is guaranteed with a ten percent annual return on the money.Upon the death of the person in question, the two-thirds is still not paid out and dependents can only expect to receive the usual monthly pay-out of five percent of the annual return.The only way which any person can get his/her money out of the GIPF, is by resigning before retirement age, in which case the person loses his/her Medical Aid benefit.It would be interesting to see the ratio of profit vs pension pay-outs vs money “invested in BEE” by the GIPF.Did the GIPF bankroll skewed black empowerment without checking whether the Board members/Directors of enterprises were competent enough to deliver and pay back the pension money of the Namibian public servants with market-related interest? It is hard to believe that there is no protection for the pension money of Public Servants and strict criteria for investment laid down by the law, especially since these funds form part of our GDP and monetary reserve.The National Planning Commission, an archaic institution which is a remnant of the socialist ideals of Swapo, had many great ideas for development and grand plans detailed in NDP I & II (National Development Plans I & II).How many recommendations have been made and how many feasibility studies were done that are now gathering dust in government offices? How many of them were implemented? What is the progress on National Development Planning? Are there any plans afoot to develop Namibia to the benefit of all Namibians? Under the circumstances, I think it is fair to demand that all parastatals/state-owned enterprises doing investment with public money should be investigated.This is especially so if, as Advocate Goba mentioned at a recently held anti-corruption workshop held in Swakopmund, the Avid saga is a typical example of organised crime.If one company doing investment with public money is a typical example of “organised crime”, then it is clear that public funds have been targeted by “organised crime”.What makes the “Avid” and GIPF sagas the most despicable of crimes is that money which is reserved for the welfare of our people, was used and squandered.If there is a danger of “organised crime” lurking in shadows of investment deals done with public funds, we need a public investigation of all these “arms” of government since it is money gained from the public and as such the public has the right to know.The Offshore Development Company (ODC) should not blame the dead for money invested, this is too convenient, neither should Board members plead innocent.Board members have a joint responsibility and as such they should live up to this responsibility.Could we also have the N43-million arms deal of the NDF and the hitherto unknown “August 26” investment arm of the NDF investigated, especially since this “arm” is already implicated for not honouring its legal obligations to pay commission? This raises more questions than answers such as; Was the profit/proceeds of deals done returned to Namibia and Namibians? What is the mission of this “investment arm”, was it also established for the welfare of Namibians, if so could we have a list of beneficiaries? Board members and directors of the investment arms should know that they have been given a huge task by being entrusted with the funds of Namibia.If they are found to be irresponsible and cannot retrieve these funds within a clearly specified time, they should resign or face immediate dismissal with criminal charges brought against them.Anti Theft WindhoekGood intentions will also go a long way if Cabinet Action Letters are implemented speedily and efficiently.The efficiency of Cabinet Committees is also important as well as the competence of the Permanent Secretaries serving on them.Here again comes in the question of productivity and efficiency.What is going on with the second cellular licence? When will Namibia’s MTC see some competition? The market is open, but the implementation and the progress on this particular issue is painfully slow.Where is the hiccup? Considering what has transpired recently, it would be good if at the same time, Board members of parastatals and state owned/bankrolled enterprises and “investment arms” of government were duly scrutinised and appointed for the skills and contributions they can make to enhance the productivity of these instances.Incompetence and opportunism should be rooted out in order to avoid any further squandering of public funds, no conflict of interest can be tolerated. There are still some newly appointed/re-appointed Board members who do not have a good track record.Some of these people came from companies that went bankrupt during their tenures and again they are entrusted with public funds.The sad thing is that a lot of companies that were established were supposed to be, or could have been for the good of Namibia, its people and development.It is a pity that these companies/entities came to be regarded as vehicles for self-enrichment by some unscrupulous souls.What criteria were used for appointment of Boards/Directorships of these parastatals and state owned/bankrolled companies? May we know more about Board members/Directors so that we, the public, can judge for ourselves? Could we have the names of Board members of parastatals and state-owned enterprises publicised so that the public can see who is in charge of their hard-earned money? Could the annual financial statements of these companies/entities also be published, so that we can see regularly where th
e money went? The GIPF, upon retirement of a member, pays out one third of the pension benefit in cash, which is non-taxable, the other to-thirds of the pension benefit is retained by this institution.The person is then paid out a portion of his/her salary, which amounts to only five percent of the annual return on the two-thirds retained by the GIPF.The person does not have an option to transfer the balance of the two-thirds to a guardian fund where the capital is guaranteed with a ten percent annual return on the money.Upon the death of the person in question, the two-thirds is still not paid out and dependents can only expect to receive the usual monthly pay-out of five percent of the annual return.The only way which any person can get his/her money out of the GIPF, is by resigning before retirement age, in which case the person loses his/her Medical Aid benefit.It would be interesting to see the ratio of profit vs pension pay-outs vs money “invested in BEE” by the GIPF.Did the GIPF bankroll skewed black empowerment without checking whether the Board members/Directors of enterprises were competent enough to deliver and pay back the pension money of the Namibian public servants with market-related interest? It is hard to believe that there is no protection for the pension money of Public Servants and strict criteria for investment laid down by the law, especially since these funds form part of our GDP and monetary reserve.The National Planning Commission, an archaic institution which is a remnant of the socialist ideals of Swapo, had many great ideas for development and grand plans detailed in NDP I & II (National Development Plans I & II).How many recommendations have been made and how many feasibility studies were done that are now gathering dust in government offices? How many of them were implemented? What is the progress on National Development Planning? Are there any plans afoot to develop Namibia to the benefit of all Namibians? Under the circumstances, I think it is fair to demand that all parastatals/state-owned enterprises doing investment with public money should be investigated.This is especially so if, as Advocate Goba mentioned at a recently held anti-corruption workshop held in Swakopmund, the Avid saga is a typical example of organised crime.If one company doing investment with public money is a typical example of “organised crime”, then it is clear that public funds have been targeted by “organised crime”.What makes the “Avid” and GIPF sagas the most despicable of crimes is that money which is reserved for the welfare of our people, was used and squandered.If there is a danger of “organised crime” lurking in shadows of investment deals done with public funds, we need a public investigation of all these “arms” of government since it is money gained from the public and as such the public has the right to know.The Offshore Development Company (ODC) should not blame the dead for money invested, this is too convenient, neither should Board members plead innocent.Board members have a joint responsibility and as such they should live up to this responsibility.Could we also have the N43-million arms deal of the NDF and the hitherto unknown “August 26” investment arm of the NDF investigated, especially since this “arm” is already implicated for not honouring its legal obligations to pay commission? This raises more questions than answers such as; Was the profit/proceeds of deals done returned to Namibia and Namibians? What is the mission of this “investment arm”, was it also established for the welfare of Namibians, if so could we have a list of beneficiaries? Board members and directors of the investment arms should know that they have been given a huge task by being entrusted with the funds of Namibia.If they are found to be irresponsible and cannot retrieve these funds within a clearly specified time, they should resign or face immediate dismissal with criminal charges brought against them.Anti Theft Windhoek