Dr Vincent Ntema Sazita
Allow me space in your esteemed newspaper to shed some light on the locus of survival for regional councils of the 21st century in the African context. A locus is a set of points, in geometry, which satisfies a given condition or situation for a shape or a figure. Before the 20th century, geometric shapes were considered as an entity or place where points can be located or can be moved.
But in modern Mathematics, the entities are considered as the set of points that satisfy the given condition. In this contribution, I want us to look at different locus theorems in the manner in which regional councils could be efficient and effective in their plight to bring governance to the core of societal fabrics since they are the custodians of the majority of rural society. In all certainties, regional councils are the homes of the majority of the rural population.
Regional councils do not only house the majority of society, but they offer remedies to the social evils of society such as the alleviation of poverty, the limelight of society, the crossing from poverty to putting smiles on the face of society, and to ensure that they do all these to direct the society that indeed they have to draw focus in the governments that provide resources for them to flourish with the aim of societal development. Development for the rural individual means leaving an old rug and embracing a new rug that satisfies you as an individual.
While governments of Africa and the world over flounder without cause and effect, it is imperative that a new dimension for the locus of survival for the regional councils takes shape in all its theorems and dimensions and congruence, or fall in tandem to break down the bottlenecks that scupper the targeted development. There is no way development of society will come if regional councils will not step up and provide the route to societal development in the different locations they are pocketed. One such stepping stone is to ensure that financial resources provided by the central levels are received, planned, organised, managed and controlled efficiently and in a watertight manner that sheds off corruption imbedded in procurement and tendering, and then projects are finally implemented to put smiles on the faces of the rural society through seeing these physical projects housed in their own localities. Integrity, fairness, honesty, justice and presence of real authority that does not betray society through kleptocracy, ignorance from the part of the elite and officials in offices to ensure stepping out and working on bringing satisfactory results to the people they render service to, are needed. Their sincerity, serenity and pep in attending to societal day-to-day needs are what define their complementary agendas to the people they were entrusted with to satisfy.
Regional governments are the second tier of government, and key elements in the locus of societies within their reach. It is, therefore, an obligation for regional councils to maximise their efforts in glowing positive terms and impact on the society under their control and strive in all ways possible to minimise negative impacts and perceptions on the general outlook of society. The regional councils have to ensure that they recline on the four levels of social responsibility such as economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic aspects.
Normally, there are observed infightings of councilors and staff among themselves or clients, and normally these are power struggles as to who is who in the regional councils. Many regional councils fear to appoint aspiring candidates from different societal backgrounds such as ethnic, racial, gender, disablement, etc. who are endowed with wisdom, skills, qualificational profiles and acumens of job proficiency. They fear that they might compete for their positions. There is no way one will take one’s position unless five things happen, and these are death, retirement, resignation, dismissal, and finally, the coming of the kingdom of God.
It is imperative that regional councils concentrate on convocations with the sections of their societies of different origins without prejudice and bigotry, and then advocate for projects within their spheres of influence (where they are located), and then empower society with wealth and advancing them towards the life that is propagated by the governments of the 21st century. When projects are initiated by regional councils through engagements with their societies, the issues relating to urbanisation will be minimal. Because of failed regional developmental activities in the regions of African countries, the societies of those regions feel that it is good to leave these rural areas and migrate to cities and towns of the country where they envision the limelight in the newfound localities, and these pose strains in those cities in terms of infrastructural development, planning, mushrooming of informal settlements, ghettoes, slums, precedented or analogous state of social crimes, overcrowding and populating without control over. The important part to note is that when a person lives in poverty, he will be subjected to look for the means of life, regardless of whether it is with the right means or not.
Thus, regional councils are the key elements in ensuring that they create avenues in rural areas such as planning to turn already existing settlement areas into village councils, village councils into town councils, town councils into municipalities, municipalities into cities, and cities into metropolises. This is in tandem with Namibia’s Vision 2030.
Also vital though, is that it is impossible for urban areas to keep people who do not have jobs in village councils, cities, municipalities, etc. because the system will not sustain. Provide jobs in rural areas, and then cut on urbanisation. A call to no corruption in the financial resources or material physical resources intended for the development of the rural poor is vital. Regional councillors should visit their constituencies and bring up projects that the constituencies envision with them as their figureheads, and then return to them with assurances that these projects will find footing among them. This will cut on the escalating unemployment figures in African states.