The minister of urban and rural development, James Sankwasa, has taken aim at regional councils and local authorities councillors who are putting titles and party affiliations first.
Sankwasa was speaking during an induction workshop on Monday at Rundu with newly elected councillors under the theme ‘Accountability is the bedrock for Effective Governance to achieve Effective Service Delivery in Regional and Local Authority Councils’.
“No chief regional officer or chief executive officer or officials will be fired by the council for doing their work as long as I am here.
“Go out and do your work. Because many of you are afraid to do the right thing because you are scared to be fired,” said Sankwasa.
He said accountability is the backbone of government and national development.
“We are not political party functionaries in the regional or local authority councils, but individuals who entered the doors of the councils through political parties, but took an oath to serve as leaders in government,” he said.
Sankwasa said the government has set out to build 10 000 houses annually, but if councils did not up their game these targets would not be reached.
“If I ask you now, how many houses have you built? Will they even amount to 10 000?
“Come end of March, I must give an account to the president; what will I tell her?”
He said he is there to ensure that targets are met by all councils.
“The way we have operated, putting our titles first has to change as it will no longer be business as usual.
“To be honourable one must do honourable things by demonstrating acceptable personal behaviour and conduct.
Sankwasa said they must leave party politics aside.
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