Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Minister of urban and rural development, James Sankwasa, said he has observed widespread corruption among elected officials and staff in regional and local authority councils across the country.
Sankwasa made the remarks on Monday during a high-level consultative meeting with regional and local council representatives in Windhoek. He said the corruption he has seen in just two months in office is alarming.
“Rampant corruption in the regional and local authority councils by political leaders and staff members. The ministry is also not exempt,” said Sankwasa.
He said many elected leaders and officials ignore the law and deliver services to themselves rather than to the public.
He added that the ministry is also affected.
Sankwasa criticised opposition councillors who he said misunderstand their roles and behave as if they are independent of the ruling party and the central government.
“There seems to be a misguided understanding by political leaders from the opposition parties that they are mini governments operating on their own accord. In this case, I can be particular: Kunene, ||Kharas, Hardap and Erongo regional councils are at the forefront of this,” he said.
He reminded councillors of the oath they took under the Namibian Constitution to uphold the law and serve the public with honesty and fairness.
“How do you swear to uphold and defend the constitution, which provides for a unitary state, but you want to establish a mini-state in a unitary state? Are you upholding and defending the constitution of the republic when you become involved in the current rampant corruption that seems to have become part of most councils and in the ministry?” he asked.
Sankwasa said some councillors are allocating land without ministerial approval, despite the law requiring it. He warned that failure to follow legal procedures would have consequences.
He also pointed to financial and human resources mismanagement in both regional and local councils.
“What I have also observed is that there is a high financial mismanagement and human resources management in both regional and local authority councils. We have issues in the local authority council where you advertise a position, you put minimum requirements of a diploma or degree, but end up appointing someone with a grade certificate,” he said.
He said financial officers often claim there is no budget for projects, but some officials go ahead anyway.
“With regards to financial mismanagement, the financial adviser would say there is no budget for that project, but the answer to that is we are the agents of the industry; we are going to eat whether there is money or not,” said Sankwasa.
This statement follows a two-day meeting in Swakopmund, where Sankwasa told regional and local authority councils six days ago not to operate independently from central government, in the presence of governors, regional and local authority councillors, chief executives, and chief regional officers.
Last month, Sankwasa said he was reviewing a report with findings from at least four forensic audits and investigations at the City of Windhoek.
He said he would call in municipal officials to hand over the documents to him.
The city had launched investigations into several matters, including the 5G procurement scandal, a faulty billing system, alleged irregularities in the appointment of the strategic executive for information communication technology, and the procurement and appointment of the Red Force Debt Management company.
Around the same time, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director general Paulus Noa confirmed in media reports that the commission had been investigating city officials. He had said the commission recommended disciplinary and other actions for the municipality to carry out.
