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The High Cost Of Unqualified Staff

The High Cost Of Unqualified Staff

IN THE wake of widespread reports of corruption and mismanagement at parastatals came the shock news this week of the crippling cost to Government of unqualified staff.

In a news report on Wednesday, it was revealed that the cost to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing of unqualified staff at regional level was some N$30 million per annum. This of course raises the question as to the combined loss to Government if one includes all Ministries in this regard.The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry in question revealed this at the start of a four-day induction workshop for newly appointed officers of the Ministry.He said that staff at regional councils were, by and large, too junior and failed to account for these enormous financial resources.”In this regard Government lost over N$30 million a year on aggregate in paying for services to businesses and farming communities in those settlement areas without collection of revenue from them in return,” said PS Erastus Negonga.Where revenue was in fact collected, money was not forwarded to the Receiver of Revenue in Windhoek; neither was it accounted for, he went on.Others, he maintained, organised lucrative life-cover investment schemes worth millions of dollars backed by neither council resolutions nor the approval of the Minister in question.Added to this, he revealed, regional officers had claimed unreconciled accrued-leave-days gratuity while still in the employ of councils.Calling for qualified regional officers, Negonga added that these revelations were “proof that the old Regional Council structures headed by regional officers had been a source of serious financial irregularities, theft and poor management of settlement areas under their control, and that situation should not be allowed to continue beyond March 2004”.This is an undoubtedly shocking state of affairs.From what the PS has said, it appears as though it would be difficult, if not impossible, to retrieve any of this money, since the malpractices have been going on for a number of years.It does raise the key question as to why something was not done at an early stage to prevent recurrence of this mess.The Permanent Secretary, as the chief accounting officer for the Ministry in question, should surely have forwarded recommendations to his seniors to nip this problem in the bud far sooner.He has now recommended that the appointment of qualified officers would eliminate mismanagement and lack of accountability.Not necessarily, of course; qualified people do not steal or mismanage less than the unqualified, and the problems at certain parastatals are ongoing proof of this.Perhaps it is also too simplistic a solution to say that unqualified staff are the cause, because it implies that the massive losses to the Ministry can be ascribed to ignorance rather than intent.Perhaps there is a combination of both, but neither is acceptable.The issue of unqualified staff again raises the question of how the policy of affirmative action is applied; and perhaps it calls for a national debate on whether appointments are made simply because of skin colour, not taking into account qualifications or skills at all.If this is the case, there needs to be a reversal of this policy, underpinning it with the need for appointments to be made on merit as well.We would suggest that this key issue, which is crucial to the good management of government at all levels of our society as well as to the health of our economy, be widely debated among Government, private-sector businesses, unions and others, in order to arrive at a solution and eliminate financial waste of this kind.This of course raises the question as to the combined loss to Government if one includes all Ministries in this regard. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry in question revealed this at the start of a four-day induction workshop for newly appointed officers of the Ministry. He said that staff at regional councils were, by and large, too junior and failed to account for these enormous financial resources. “In this regard Government lost over N$30 million a year on aggregate in paying for services to businesses and farming communities in those settlement areas without collection of revenue from them in return,” said PS Erastus Negonga. Where revenue was in fact collected, money was not forwarded to the Receiver of Revenue in Windhoek; neither was it accounted for, he went on. Others, he maintained, organised lucrative life-cover investment schemes worth millions of dollars backed by neither council resolutions nor the approval of the Minister in question. Added to this, he revealed, regional officers had claimed unreconciled accrued-leave-days gratuity while still in the employ of councils. Calling for qualified regional officers, Negonga added that these revelations were “proof that the old Regional Council structures headed by regional officers had been a source of serious financial irregularities, theft and poor management of settlement areas under their control, and that situation should not be allowed to continue beyond March 2004”. This is an undoubtedly shocking state of affairs. From what the PS has said, it appears as though it would be difficult, if not impossible, to retrieve any of this money, since the malpractices have been going on for a number of years. It does raise the key question as to why something was not done at an early stage to prevent recurrence of this mess. The Permanent Secretary, as the chief accounting officer for the Ministry in question, should surely have forwarded recommendations to his seniors to nip this problem in the bud far sooner. He has now recommended that the appointment of qualified officers would eliminate mismanagement and lack of accountability. Not necessarily, of course; qualified people do not steal or mismanage less than the unqualified, and the problems at certain parastatals are ongoing proof of this. Perhaps it is also too simplistic a solution to say that unqualified staff are the cause, because it implies that the massive losses to the Ministry can be ascribed to ignorance rather than intent. Perhaps there is a combination of both, but neither is acceptable. The issue of unqualified staff again raises the question of how the policy of affirmative action is applied; and perhaps it calls for a national debate on whether appointments are made simply because of skin colour, not taking into account qualifications or skills at all. If this is the case, there needs to be a reversal of this policy, underpinning it with the need for appointments to be made on merit as well. We would suggest that this key issue, which is crucial to the good management of government at all levels of our society as well as to the health of our economy, be widely debated among Government, private-sector businesses, unions and others, in order to arrive at a solution and eliminate financial waste of this kind.

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