RUNDU – The Regional Disaster Risk Management Committee in the Kavango Region is about to make a submission to prevent government workers from doubling up as drought relief workers.
The formal submission would be lodged with the Office of the Prime Minister to lobby so that all government employees can be banned from being contracted under the drought relief programme. The committee argues thousands of unemployed youths roam around the region hence it is unfair for some people to temporarily leave their full-time jobs to work under the drought relief programme at the expense of the unemployed.
The committee made the decision when it met for the first time yesterday in Rundu. “At least those people who are already employed by government have a monthly income, therefore they must also give a chance to those who are not getting anything to also benefit,” motivated the chairperson of the Kavango Regional Council, Bonny Wakudumo. Wakudumo is also of the opinion that the practice of employing government employees as drought relief workers also hampers service delivery. “When these people go on leave, there is no one at the offices who can deliver services to our people, we cannot allow this to go on. Why can we not give our unemployed people, like the youth, a chance to also benefit,” he said.
Although the proposal was rejected by some of the people in attendance, the majority of them were in favour of the proposition. Those opposing it, claim that employing young people could “jeopardize” the programme and it would be very difficult for government to hold them accountable should anything go wrong. “As long as the training is done correctly I do not see why it should not work,” countered Wakudumo. The committee in the end resolved to enlist the services of legal experts to deal with legal matters regarding the proposal. “As for now, let us engage the Attorney General to get some technical advice,” he said.
By Mathias Haufiku