SOEs draw flak in National Council

NATIONAL Council parliamentarian Bartholomeus Shangheta yesterday accused State-owned enterprises of having forgotten the purpose they were created for.

The Swapo MP said instead of providing good services to improve the living conditions of Namibians, parastatals were just hiking their tariffs. He said parastatals were charging too much for services such as electricity, water, transport and telecommunications.”They have departed from the idea of service delivery in favour of profit making, in the same way as some private enterprises,” Shangheta said.He said if parastatals such as NamWater and NamPower had not lost their sense of direction, Namibia would not be having water and electricity shortages.He said when it rains, NamWater allows a lot of water to meander into the Atlantic Ocean instead of saving it for future use.”What does NamWater do to ensure that the massive rainwater we get is retained and used, instead of letting it go to waste into the ocean,” Shangheta asked.”And what has NamPower been doing all these years to ensure that Namibia does not depend on South Africa for its electricity needs? Not much.”He was speaking during debate on the State-Owned Enterprises Bill.Mines and Energy Deputy Minister Henock ya Kasita said the bill was overdue and was aimed at bringing about efficiency in parastatals.He said complaints by the heads of some SOEs that Government was interfering in their work by coming up with the bill did not hold water.”The Council of the Minister will be responsible for determining the remuneration of board, Chief Executive Officers and senior staff.Gone are the days when some CEOs of SOEs have their children’s [study] fees from Grade 1 to university all paid for by the SOE,” said Ya Kasita.He suggested that CEOs of parastatals who feel that their autonomy was being eroded should “call it a day.”Ya Kasita reminded parastatals that the nation was very unhappy with their performance at the moment.He said parastatals were also supposed to pay dividends to Government but at the moment they just want to be bailed out.Swapo’s Henock Kankoshi said it does not serve any purpose for Government to pump millions of dollars into parastatals without monitoring, controlling and evaluating their performance.Swapo’s Phillemon Ndjambula said if Namibia wanted to qualify as a developed country by 2030, SOEs should operate effectively because they were the engine of economic development.Barkias Namwandi said many SOEs were failing in their purpose because much of their money just went to their top officers, who turned to Government to bail them out when they had misused their money.He said parastatals were charging too much for services such as electricity, water, transport and telecommunications.”They have departed from the idea of service delivery in favour of profit making, in the same way as some private enterprises,” Shangheta said.He said if parastatals such as NamWater and NamPower had not lost their sense of direction, Namibia would not be having water and electricity shortages.He said when it rains, NamWater allows a lot of water to meander into the Atlantic Ocean instead of saving it for future use.”What does NamWater do to ensure that the massive rainwater we get is retained and used, instead of letting it go to waste into the ocean,” Shangheta asked.”And what has NamPower been doing all these years to ensure that Namibia does not depend on South Africa for its electricity needs? Not much.”He was speaking during debate on the State-Owned Enterprises Bill.Mines and Energy Deputy Minister Henock ya Kasita said the bill was overdue and was aimed at bringing about efficiency in parastatals.He said complaints by the heads of some SOEs that Government was interfering in their work by coming up with the bill did not hold water.”The Council of the Minister will be responsible for determining the remuneration of board, Chief Executive Officers and senior staff.Gone are the days when some CEOs of SOEs have their children’s [study] fees from Grade 1 to university all paid for by the SOE,” said Ya Kasita.He suggested that CEOs of parastatals who feel that their autonomy was being eroded should “call it a day.”Ya Kasita reminded parastatals that the nation was very unhappy with their performance at the moment.He said parastatals were also supposed to pay dividends to Government but at the moment they just want to be bailed out. Swapo’s Henock Kankoshi said it does not serve any purpose for Government to pump millions of dollars into parastatals without monitoring, controlling and evaluating their performance.Swapo’s Phillemon Ndjambula said if Namibia wanted to qualify as a developed country by 2030, SOEs should operate effectively because they were the engine of economic development.Barkias Namwandi said many SOEs were failing in their purpose because much of their money just went to their top officers, who turned to Government to bail them out when they had misused their money.