IN an attempt to dampen criticism of President Hage Geingob’s salary, State House on Tuesday released proposed salary figures for state-owned enterprises’ bosses that are yet to be presented to Cabinet.
The Namibian understands that the figures released by State House were drawn from the Ministry of Public Enterprises’ recommendation to Cabinet.
Almost half of the cases highlighted by State House are either too high or too low, some CEOs told The Namibian.
Public enterprises minister Leon Jooste yesterday did not confirm nor deny the accuracy of the salary figures released by State House, but said: “The new remuneration guidelines have been approved in principle by the Cabinet committee on public enterprises, and will now be tabled in Cabinet. I will refrain from expressing myself on the current figures, and rather focus on the implementation of the new guidelines, which will include an incentivised approach for the first time. The guidelines will be made public once approved.”
According to State House, the Electricity Control Board’s chief executive officer’s package is N$2,6 million per year, while the actual figure is N$1,9 million.
Second-highest paid, as per the press release, is the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund’s boss, with N$2,4 million, yet according to sources, the actual figure is about N$900 000 per annum, excluding bonusses.
MVA’s Rosalia Martins-Hausiku joked on Facebook about her pay package yesterday saying: “I receive that prophecy in Jesus’ name.”
The MVA Fund receives all its operating revenues from government.
Currently, the NamPower CEO position, sources said, is earning N$2,3 million, with sources claiming the actual figure to be N$3,4 million.
The Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund’s (NSFAF) CEO gets N$1,9 million, despite continuous reports of poor financial management, as well as the inability to recover loans.
According to the Presidency, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) rector also earns N$1,9 million, while the University of Namibia’s (Unam) vice chancellor and NamPost’s CEO both receive N$2,1 million. Poor management and governance practices have long haunted Unam, which is almost wholly propped up by state funding.
The media release said lossmaking New Era Publications’ CEO earns as much as Geingob does, N$1,7 million, while the military spy technology company SatCom’s boss and the Development Bank of Namibia’s CEO earn N$2 million.
New Era Publications was again recently in the news over the non-payment of taxes, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, to the Receiver of Revenue. However, in the wake of the salary revelations, New Era Publications’ CEO Audrin Mathe also stated on Facebook yesterday: “LOL. I wish that was true in my case. I would love that much.” Sources indicated that Mathe’s salary is actually N$1,1 million. Mathe himself declined to comment.
As for Telecom Namibia, the CEO earns N$1,8 million, and Namport’s boss N$1,6 million, as per the State House release. Both entities are recently challenged, despite being monopolies. However, sources say the Namport boss earns N$1,2 million.
In the wake of the release of the salary information, political commentators yesterday said chief executive officers of struggling SOEs and regulatory bodies, who enjoy lavish salaries while being unproductive, were “stealing” from taxpayers.
Looking at the salary information released by State House, political commentator Hoze Riruako noted that the majority of SOEs depended on government for operating revenues, and CEOs could thus not be paid such high salaries.
“About 80% of parastatals depend on government for money, and do not generate money. They have no programmes to reduce dependency on government, but still they have the audacity to pay their CEOs more money than what they can ever generate,” he stressed, giving the examples of NUST and Unam.
Yesterday, McHenry Venaani, president of the DTA of Namibia, said, “CEOs of parastatals which depend on government bailouts and make no profit should justify why they would get that much money”.
“There are politicians and CEOs who get high salaries, but are idle. They are stealing from the people. This should be a wake-up call to all,” he said.
Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) research associate Max Weylandt echoed similar sentiments, saying high salaries linked to high performance should not be a problem.
“The problem with the list of the SOEs salaries as issued by the Office of the President is that there seems to be little correlation between pay and performance. We understand that the Ministry of Public Enterprises is moving towards introducing a performance-based system for remuneration, and the sooner this is in place, the better,” he said.
Asked about the actual salary figures yesterday, presidential spokesperson Albertus Aochamub referred all queries to the public enterprises ministry.
In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.
The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.
Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for
only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!
