The Budget and the million-dollar questions

THE National Budget allocating more than N$15 billion for expenditure during this financial year was passed by the National Assembly a week ago.

But do MPs give the Budget allocations the scrutiny they deserve, or do they skimp where it matters when it comes to what is Government’s blueprint for developing the country? The Namibian’s LINDSAY DENTLINGER takes a critical look at the just-ended Budget debate. THE Appropriation Bill, the legal instrument through which the Budget money is allocated – among some 30 budget votes this year – is, for the most part, treated like a fait accompli.Given the composition of Parliament, it is highly unlikely that it would be possible to vote for any changes.Still, the process could yield a more critical analysis of how Government plans to spend the country’s resources, especially as over the years the Finance Minister has continued to remind us that these are limited and not nearly enough to bring about the change that it wants to.So, each year, millions are given to the more than 20 ministries, but are we really sure that they are going to do what they say they will do with that money? This year, Health Minister Richard Kamwe was very forthright in admitting that not all the money he was given last year was spent in the way he had promised, and it was up to MPs to decide whether the reasons he provided held any water.Each year the Lands Minister also tells Parliament that he was unable to spend the full N$50 million allocated in each of the last three financial years to buy farms for resettlement purposes.AUTOMATIC NOT FOR THE PEOPLE Then again, there are many ministries that fail to disclose such information and return unspent money to State coffers.Instead we only learn through scandals like the ODC’s missing N$100 million that some of this money was assigned through the National Budget for projects the Ministry of Trade and Industry had promised to implement.The missing money aside, has anyone questioned what this has meant for the implementation of these projects? What benefits did the country’s people not reap because these projects could not be realised because of the money being dubiously invested instead? By the time it came around to discussing the N$101 million budget of the Ministry of Trade, MPs had lost interest in a tedious and drawn-out budget process and decided to pass the vote without as much as a general comment being made, not even a whimper.Granted, parliamentarians did seem a little distracted while opening the hampers of Namibian products they were presented with during the Trade Minister’s budget motivation.But with so many sectors constantly reminding us that economic growth is not up to scratch and that our development ideals will not be realised unless we do more to expand our industry base, strengthen our capability to trade and create jobs, it is unforgivable that MPs waived their rights to discuss this vote.Not that Minister Immanuel Ngatijizeko did not offer a motivation for his Ministry’s expenditure, but none of it was even challenged.In the process, Ngatjizeko also got away without having to explain why neither of the two companies set up to promote development and create jobs – the Namibia Development Corporation and the Offshore Development Company – provided their latest financial statements for inclusion in the National Budget document.Never mind the fact that the two companies are responsible for losing the State more than the entire budget of the Ministry of Trade for 2006-07.ENTHUSIASM & EXPEDIENCY Yes, MPs were forced to sit long hours, sometimes until shortly before midnight for more than two weeks, discussing each of the 30 votes, but the National Budget is just too important for fatigue to get the better of them.After all, it is Government’s blueprint for developing the country and improving the lives of its citizenry.Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila expressed concern in the House that sitting so long without a break could put MPs at risk of deep vein thrombosis! But this did not deter MPs from spending three hours bemoaning the way in which they are treated by the national broadcaster.They needed to discuss critical issues of national importance such as the growing orphan numbers, the collapse of the fishing industry and the slow progress of the Green Scheme with equal fervour.Namibia’s key economic sectors – fishing and agriculture – were not even discussed and no solutions were offered for bringing either of these sectors on track to yield desired results.Maybe officials need to reconsider the way the budget discussion is structured so that MPs do not skimp where it matters when the days and the weeks become so long that the quorum is constantly under threat.In general, budget motivations this year were of a lesser standard than in previous years, when these have provided a very good picture of the status of a particular sector and the challenges that lay ahead.This year, the Ministry of Health failed to even tell Parliament how much it was spending on life-sustaining drugs for the country’s number one public health threat, HIV-AIDS.A week into budget motivations and the Deputy Chairperson of the Whole House Committee who chairs the budgetary proceedings was telling Ministers to speed up their presentations and only focus on how they planned to spend the money they had been allocated in this budget.After all, how do you allocate more money to a Ministry when you are not even sure last year’s allocation has been spent properly? Expediency can not be allowed to win over using the platform to thoroughly and succinctly discuss and question Government’s development and expenditure plans.Otherwise the budgetary motivations might just as well be photocopied and delivered to MPs’ offices to gather dust along with the many audit and annual reports that are tabled in Parliament and rarely ever discussed.THE Appropriation Bill, the legal instrument through which the Budget money is allocated – among some 30 budget votes this year – is, for the most part, treated like a fait accompli.Given the composition of Parliament, it is highly unlikely that it would be possible to vote for any changes.Still, the process could yield a more critical analysis of how Government plans to spend the country’s resources, especially as over the years the Finance Minister has continued to remind us that these are limited and not nearly enough to bring about the change that it wants to.So, each year, millions are given to the more than 20 ministries, but are we really sure that they are going to do what they say they will do with that money? This year, Health Minister Richard Kamwe was very forthright in admitting that not all the money he was given last year was spent in the way he had promised, and it was up to MPs to decide whether the reasons he provided held any water.Each year the Lands Minister also tells Parliament that he was unable to spend the full N$50 million allocated in each of the last three financial years to buy farms for resettlement purposes.AUTOMATIC NOT FOR THE PEOPLE Then again, there are many ministries that fail to disclose such information and return unspent money to State coffers.Instead we only learn through scandals like the ODC’s missing N$100 million that some of this money was assigned through the National Budget for projects the Ministry of Trade and Industry had promised to implement.The missing money aside, has anyone questioned what this has meant for the implementation of these projects? What benefits did the country’s people not reap because these projects could not be realised because of the money being dubiously invested instead? By the time it came around to discussing the N$101 million budget of the Ministry of Trade, MPs had lost interest in a tedious and drawn-out budget process and decided to pass the vote without as much as a general comment being made, not even a whimper.Granted, parliamentarians did seem a little distracted while opening the hampers of Namibian products they were presented with during the Trade Minister’s budget motivation.But with so many sectors constantly reminding us that economic growth is not up to scratch and that our development ideals will not be realised unless we do more to expand our industry base, strengthen our capability to trade and create jobs, it is unforgivable that MPs waived their rights to discuss this vote.Not that Minister Immanuel Ngatijizeko did not offer a motivation for his Ministry’s expenditure, but none of it was even challenged.In the process, Ngatjizeko also got away without having to explain why neither of the two companies set up to promote development and create jobs – the Namibia Development Corporation and the Offshore Development Company – provided their latest financial statements for inclusion in the National Budget document.Never mind the fact that the two companies are responsible for losing the State more than the entire budget of the Ministry of Trade for 2006-07. ENTHUSIASM & EXPEDIENCY Yes, MPs were forced to sit long hours, sometimes until shortly before midnight for more than two weeks, discussing each of the 30 votes, but the National Budget is just too important for fatigue to get the better of them.After all, it is Government’s blueprint for developing the country and improving the lives of its citizenry.Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila expressed concern in the House that sitting so long without a break could put MPs at risk of deep vein thrombosis! But this did not deter MPs from spending three hours bemoaning the way in which they are treated by the national broadcaster.They needed to discuss critical issues of national importance such as the growing orphan numbers, the collapse of the fishing industry and the slow progress of the Green Scheme with equal fervour.Namibia’s key economic sectors – fishing and agriculture – were not even discussed and no solutions were offered for bringing either of these sectors on track to yield desired results.Maybe officials need to reconsider the way the budget discussion is structured so that MPs do not skimp where it matters when the days and the weeks become so long that the quorum is constantly under threat.In general, budget motivations this year were of a lesser standard than in previous years, when these have provided a very good picture of the status of a particular sector and the challenges that lay ahead.This year, the Ministry of Health failed to even tell Parliament how much it was spending on life-sustaining drugs for the country’s number one public health threat, HIV-AIDS.A week into budget motivations and the Deputy Chairperson of the Whole House Committee who chairs the budgetary proceedings was telling Ministers to speed up their presentations and only focus on how they planned to spend the money they had been allocated in this budget.After all, how do you allocate more money to a Ministry when you are not even sure last year’s allocation has been spent properly? Expediency can not be allowed to win over using the platform to thoroughly and succinctly discuss and question Government’s development and expenditure plans.Otherwise the budgetary motivations might just as well be photocopied and delivered to MPs’ offices to gather dust along with the many audit and annual reports that are tabled in Parliament and rarely ever discussed.