It is an untidy task for the topic forbids a simple, clear-cut solution but Government needs to embrace what I have been advocating for: a method of anointing those that are performing well and shaming those who perform less than their peers.
Regrettably, the recent so-called reshuffle of Permanent Secretaries and the envisaged mini-reshuffle of Deputy Permanent Secretaries simply involved the recycling of some non-performing Accounting Officers from one office to the other.
This is precisely the problem of the Pohamba Government because it is now becoming increasingly difficult to convince the ordinary man in the street whether it is serious about tackling the endemic problem of incompetence and corruption because as the adage goes, “Charity begins at home” and unless there is much concerted effort to remove some of the people with dubious records, this will merely pay lip service to this whole process.
The honourable thing to do in the latter case, would be not to renew performance contracts of such incumbents.
Posts of Deputy Permanent Secretaries and Under Secretaries should be abolished because they have been overtaken by events, such as the advent of “political patronage” immediately after independence.
What exactly do they do?
Some of them are misplaced in their positions and are simply getting pay cheques at the end of the month for doing nothing.
The argument that some ministries, such as Finance, Works, etc. need them due to the complex tasks in such entities is a fallacy because most, if not all, the work is done by directorates, divisions, sub-divisions and sections.
As for us ordinary Namibians, our concerns are genuine.
For instance, our airports at Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Ondangwa, etc. are in such a poor state of condition and need to be upgraded to international standards to meet the ever growing tourism market emanating from abroad and within the SADC region. The excuse given is always “lack of funds”.
I therefore appeal to top politicians and Accounting Officers of Ministries/Offices/Agencies, State-Owned Enterprises and Private Companies to think not only about their careers and pockets, but also about us, the ordinary people.
Cabinet needs to tackle the chronic problem of kleptocracy (God forbid that this happens) facing some of our mismanaged institutions head-on by taking drastic action against culprits and the cosmetic changes that leaves the status quo intact under the pretext that we are “improving the human resources of the different ministries to make them more efficient”.
Josephat Sinvula
Oshana