By Martin Mwinga
In Part 1 last week, I focused on the pro-poor, pro-growth budget allocation, which amounted to N$1.6 billion. Most of these allocations will be used to finance projects in rural areas and are expected to generate business, income and employment for many Namibians. Part 2 looks at how much each ministry allocates to personnel expenditure in the form of remunerations and benefits. It also looks as to whether Government will be recruiting additional staffs this year, and salary differentials among different ministries. One of the major criticisms levelled against Government expenditure is the large amount of money spent on personnel expenditure (government employees salaries and benefits) which amounted to N$6.7 billion in the current budget representing 37.6% of total government expenditure.
I mentioned in part 1 last week that Mrs Saara Kuugongelwa became the first Minister of Finance to achieve a budget surplus for two-consecutive years. Not only has she achieved a budget surplus, she is also successfully re-arranging and changing the composition of government expenditure. For most of the 1990s and early 2000, government current expenditure has been hovering around 90% of total expenditure. This trend has however, been reversed with current expenditure reduced to 78% of total expenditure, while total personnel expenditure, which was close to 50%, has been reduced to 38% of total government expenditure in the 2007/08 national budget.
Government Expenditure Analysis: The 2007/08 national budget makes provision for a total expenditure of N$17.8 billion to be allocated to different ministries. N$13.9 billion was allocated to current expenditure (consumption), while N$3.8 billion for capital expenditure (investment).
Within the current expenditure component an amount of N$3.0 billion will be spent on goods and services. This allocation provides a greater opportunity for smaller and previously disadvantaged businesses to provide these goods and services to Government. The 2007/08 national budget allocates substantial amounts of money for ministries to recruit new/additional staff.
New jobs budgeted for amount to 2 600 in different ministries, except the Ministry of Defence that will not be recruiting at all. If you have the right qualification, don’t wait for the relevant ministry to advertise, you can find out more about these positions by contacting the personnel department of these ministries. Remuneration (salaries) differentials is very high among different ministries with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry paying the highest salaries, an average monthly remuneration of N$19 000 and N$12 000 respectively, compared to the ministries of defence, police, education, and health with an average monthly salary per person amounting to N$4 000. What follows is an analysis of individual ministries.
1. Ministry of Labour and Social Services. The ministry has the lowest expenditure on staff salaries and benefits, spending only 3.7% of total budget resources allocated to the ministry for 2007/08. There are some employment opportunities in this ministry with the expected recruitment of 67 new staff in 2007/08. The ministry allocates an amount of N$25 million for salaries for a staff complement of 268 people, representing an average salary of N$8 000 a month. To find out more about these new 67 positions and whether you qualify do not wait for advertisement; approach the ministry’s personnel department for more information.
2. President vs Prime Minister’s Office: The President’s office with an expected staff complement of 231 (111 new staff to be recruited in 2007/08) spends 10% of its total budget on staff remuneration and has a average monthly salary of N$7 000, compared to the Prime Minister’s office with a planned staff complement of 316 (71 new staff to be recruited in 2007/08) which spends 42% of its budget on staff remunerations and has an average monthly salary of N$11 000 per employee. The reason for the high personnel expenditure by the office of the Prime Minister is mainly due to high salaries compared to the lower paid personnel in the President’s Office. Since the average personnel expenditure is now at 38%, the Prime Minister’s office is above the average and should be a target by the Ministry of Finance.
3. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting: The ministry operates far below the average of 38%, spending only 13% of its budget on personnel expenditure. The 2007/8 budget shows that the ministry will recruit 49 new staff, bringing the total staff to 160 people with an average monthly salary of N$9 000.
4. Ministry of Lands and Resettlement: The ministry operates below the average of 38% and spends only 30% of its budget on personnel. The ministry plan to recruit 32 new staff in 2007/08 and the average monthly salary stands at N$7 000. The ministry does not outsource most of its activities, meaning all the technical work such as farm, land and house valuations is carried out by full-time employees of the ministry.
5. Ministry of Mines and Energy vs Ministry of Fisheries: These two ministries are the key ministries in Government employing highly technical and skilled staff such as geologists, marine biologists, scientists, energy experts, etc. and one would expect the average monthly salaries to be higher than other ministries. While the ministry of mines spends only 34% of its budget on staff (51 staff to be recruited), the ministry of fisheries, which plans to recruit 95 new staff, spends 45% of its budget on personnel expenditure. The average monthly salary in the two ministries stands at N$10 000, lower than Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry.
6. Ministry of Environment and Tourism: The ministry spends 65% of its budget on current expenditure, and 35% on capital or development projects. 23% of the total ministry budget is spent on personnel. 53 new positions are expected to be filled in 2007/08 and the average monthly salary stands at N$10 000. The ministry allocates N$75 million to both the Namibia Tourism Board and Namibia Wildlife Resorts as current expenditure, instead of capital expenditure. This is wrong and Parliament must rectify this and classify these allocations as capital expenditure.
7. Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Office: The ministry spends 74% on current expenditure and 51% of total expenditure on personnel expenditure with a monthly average salary expenditure of N$11 000 per employee. The ministry’s 2007/08 budget makes provision for recruitment of 134 new staff.
8. Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing: 79% of total expenditure is allocated to current expenditure and only 7% of the ministry’s expenditure goes to personnel expenditure, while 20% is to be spent on capital expenditure. The ministry will create 53 new jobs at an average monthly salary of N$10 000 per employee.
9. Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry: 76% of the total budget allocated to the ministry is spent on current expenditure, 24% on capital expenditure and 37% on personnel expenditure. The ministry plans to recruit 605 additional staff to the ministry and the average monthly remuneration stands at N$4 000 per employee.
10. Ministry of Works, Transport: The ministry spends the lowest amount on current expenditure amounting to 39% of total, while 61% is allocated for capital expenditure. The ministry allocates only 18% of its budget to personnel expenditure and the average monthly salary for the ministry amounts to N$5 000 per employee. The ministry will recruit 297 additional staff in 2007.
11. Ministry of Health and Social Services: The ministry allocates 48% of its total budget on personnel expenditure with an average monthly salary of N$6 000 per employee. The budget makes provision for recruitment of 589 new staff in the ministry’s different departments. The high personnel expenditure of the ministry reflects the nature of the ministry whose services are supplied by permanent employees, and not outsourced.
12. Ministry of Education: The ministry allocates 66% of its budget on personnel expenditure, mainly for teacher’s salaries, with an average monthly salary of N$6 000. Although, the 2007/08 makes provision for recruitment of 226 new staff, no new teachers for primary and secondary schools will be recruited except for replacement of existing teachers should they move or die.
13. Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration: The ministry spends 42% of its budget on personnel with a monthly average salary of N$4 000, reflecting the high number of clerical staff employed by the ministry. In the current financial year, the ministry plans to recruit 40 new additional staff.
14. Ministry of Safety and Security: The ministry spends 71% of its budget on personnel expenditure, with an average monthly salary of N$4 000. Despite, the increase in crime no provision is made for recruitment of police or Special Field Force officers. The 56 increases in staff of the ministry are mainly for administration and support services.
15. Ministry of Defence: The ministry allocates 65% of its budget to personnel expenditure, with a monthly average salary of N$4 000. It is the only ministry that is not planning to recruit new staff, so if you were planning to start a career in the military, you will have to wait. It is the only ministry that seems to be excellent at planning, knowing the exact number of staff it needs, unlike other ministries. The problem with poor staff planning in other ministries leads to over and under budgeting for the right size of staff complement and leads to poor budget planning.
16. Ministry of Finance: The ministry leads by example allocating only 5% of its budget towards personnel expenditure, with an average monthly salary of N$7 000 per employee. The ministry plans to recruit 159 additional staff in 2007/08.
17. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The ministry spends half (50%) of its budget on remuneration of staff and has the highest monthly average salary of N$19 000. The gap between this ministry and other ministries is so huge that one is tempted to ask whether the high remunerations enjoyed by ministry staff are justified by the ministry’s output. Are we saying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing a better job than the ministries of defence, police, home affairs, health and education where monthly average salaries are as low as N$4 000?
18. Ministry of Trade and Industry: The ministry, plans to spend 31% on staff remunerations and benefits and plans to recruit 69 additional staff in 2007/08. It is also one of the best ministries to work for with an average monthly salary of N$12 000 per employee which makes it the second highest after foreign affairs.
The above analysis shows the discrepancies among ministries in terms of remuneration structures with foreign affairs paying the highest while the ministries of defence, police, education and health pay the lowest.
With this in mind, you can make your own conclusion as to whether the high packages paid by the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry are justified by their output.