The President Must Act

ONCE again the public is being treated to what may amount to a costly human soap opera in the form of the public hearing into alleged malpractices at the Road Fund Administration and Roads Authority.

This is the not the first, and it probably won’t be the last hearing of its kind, but unless action is taken after conclusion of the commission, there is absolutely no point whatsoever in going through this kind of exercise in the future. The RFA and RA hearings, like several that have preceded them, have already revealed widescale maladministration, misappropriation and incompetency among others, and to the huge losses that have been incurred to the state and the taxpayer in this way, must be added the cost of the hearings itself, which is also likely to be quite considerable.We do need to be asking ourselves the question as to what point is being served by undertaking one commission of inquiry after the other, to prove what we largely already know: that vast amounts of money are disappearing into a bottomless pit, primarily in state-owned enterprises of this kind, due to a range of different reasons, from outright theft and fraud to mismanagement and plain greed.Again, this is a question that has been asked in the past, frequently in fact by this newspaper, but answers are never forthcoming.This again indicates the lack of transparency and accountability on the part of our ruling elite.Hearings of this kind are nothing more than expensive window-dressing exercises, designed to give the impression that something is being done about corruption and mismanagement, but at the end of the day, the story ends right there.An election year faces us, and it is with regret that we notes that problem areas such as these play little or no role as far as either the electorate or those seeking re-election themselves are concerned.Those appearing before the commission may weep, for one reason or another, but it is the taxpayers of this country, ultimately, who should be shedding tears over the incessant and ongoing revelations of this kind.What type of people are we putting in positions of power and accountability, both in our Government and through them, in our state-owned enterprises? Is it not time that we can ask these questions and expect answers? The reports of most of the various commissions of inquiry go directly to the President for his scrutiny and recommendations.Why is it that the matter always seems to end there? As a consequence people are seen to be getting away with a myriad of misdeeds.And these are inevitably prominent people in our society, paid huge salaries, only to further misappropriate at the expense of the country and its people.We keep hearing the same tired old litany that resources are scarce, and there is never enough money to fund pressing socio-economic priorities.Yet resources are plentiful enough it seems, for us to turn a blind eye to incidences where they are abused.To even the most undiscerning eye, this makes no sense whatsoever.We would therefore appeal to our head of state, President Sam Nujoma, to see to it that action is taken timeously against culprits who are guilty of stealing and/or mismanaging our precious resources.At least in this manner the high costs of hearings of this nature would be justified and hopefully, through follow-up actions, some of the monies can be retrieved.To leave matters such as these too long, means that action comes too little and too late.The RFA and RA hearings, like several that have preceded them, have already revealed widescale maladministration, misappropriation and incompetency among others, and to the huge losses that have been incurred to the state and the taxpayer in this way, must be added the cost of the hearings itself, which is also likely to be quite considerable. We do need to be asking ourselves the question as to what point is being served by undertaking one commission of inquiry after the other, to prove what we largely already know: that vast amounts of money are disappearing into a bottomless pit, primarily in state-owned enterprises of this kind, due to a range of different reasons, from outright theft and fraud to mismanagement and plain greed. Again, this is a question that has been asked in the past, frequently in fact by this newspaper, but answers are never forthcoming. This again indicates the lack of transparency and accountability on the part of our ruling elite. Hearings of this kind are nothing more than expensive window-dressing exercises, designed to give the impression that something is being done about corruption and mismanagement, but at the end of the day, the story ends right there. An election year faces us, and it is with regret that we notes that problem areas such as these play little or no role as far as either the electorate or those seeking re-election themselves are concerned. Those appearing before the commission may weep, for one reason or another, but it is the taxpayers of this country, ultimately, who should be shedding tears over the incessant and ongoing revelations of this kind. What type of people are we putting in positions of power and accountability, both in our Government and through them, in our state-owned enterprises? Is it not time that we can ask these questions and expect answers? The reports of most of the various commissions of inquiry go directly to the President for his scrutiny and recommendations. Why is it that the matter always seems to end there? As a consequence people are seen to be getting away with a myriad of misdeeds. And these are inevitably prominent people in our society, paid huge salaries, only to further misappropriate at the expense of the country and its people. We keep hearing the same tired old litany that resources are scarce, and there is never enough money to fund pressing socio-economic priorities. Yet resources are plentiful enough it seems, for us to turn a blind eye to incidences where they are abused. To even the most undiscerning eye, this makes no sense whatsoever. We would therefore appeal to our head of state, President Sam Nujoma, to see to it that action is taken timeously against culprits who are guilty of stealing and/or mismanaging our precious resources. At least in this manner the high costs of hearings of this nature would be justified and hopefully, through follow-up actions, some of the monies can be retrieved. To leave matters such as these too long, means that action comes too little and too late.