WINDHOEK – The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, Sirkka Ausiku, says plans by the National Council to replace the Trust Fund for Regional Development and Equity Provisions with constituency development trust funds will compromise the need for accountability, because it would be difficult to manage and monitor 121 constituency trust funds.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Regional Development and Reports in the National Council is not happy with the performance of the trust fund, prompting it to propose the establishment of constituency development funds instead. A report tabled in the National Council by the Auditor General last month accused the fund of failing to account for N$60 million.
“Duplicating the two will not serve any purpose, because it will be difficult to manage all the trust funds in the 121 constituencies,” Ausiku said in an interview yesterday. The PS also accuses constituency councillors of not being proactive when it comes to lobbying for the development of their constituencies.
“The councillors are not applying for assistance and now they want to cry foul. The trust fund never withheld any assistance from constituencies,” she said. She further explained that constituencies are an integral part of the regions and as such will always benefit from development initiatives.
“The fund is for all regions and all constituencies can apply,” she said. However, should the National Council go ahead with its plans, the Trust Fund for Regional Development and Equity Provisions could become a casualty, mainly due to unsatisfactory performance and allocating money meant for development to its operational budget. According to Ausiku the Trust Fund for Regional Development and Equity Provisions Act does not make provision for the appointment of staff to manage the operations and direct the day-to-day activities of the fund.
“This is a limitation which makes it difficult for the trust fund to fully realize its objectives,” she said. Only last month calls were made in the National Council for all board members of the trust fund to be fired with immediate effect, after it emerged that they could not account for N$60 million. However, Ausiku indicated that the Auditor General’s report only indicates that financial documents were not submitted on time for auditing purposes and that is why there is a reference to missing money.
“It is not that the money is missing, but more a matter of financial documents not being submitted on time as requested by the auditors,” she said. Ausiku says she does not understand why she must take the blame for the unsatisfactory performance of the trust fund. She only took over as chairperson of the trust fund in 2012.
The trust fund has a 10-member board, which is chaired by Ausiku, with National Planning Commission PS Levi Hungamo as her deputy. Ericah Shafudah, the PS in the Ministry of Finance is the board secretary.
Other members include two from the Association of Local Authorities, two from the Association of Regional Councils and one each from the Association of Physically Handicapped Persons and the Namibia Non-Governmental Organisations Forum. Meanwhile, the manager of the trust fund Martinus Nakale has expressed dissatisfaction with the N$30 million the trust fund receives from the central government annually.
“The annual budgetary allocation of N$30 million from central government is not adequate to make a significant impact given the capital intensive nature of projects which, on average, require N$15 million to implement.” Since the inception of the trust fund in 2001, over N$378 million of funding has been approved for capital projects such as sewer upgrading, installation of prepaid water meters, servicing plots, settling the water and electricity bills of town councils and the installation of water and sewer networks.
“Due to the growing need for the provision of basic services to communities, the board resolved to focus on projects aimed at improving delivery of essential services such as water, sewer, electricity and access roads,” according to Nakale.
The Oshana Region received the most funding to date (N$80 million), followed by the Hardap, Region (N$44 million), the Kavango regions (N$42 million), the Karas Region (N$38 million), and the Omusati Region (N$33 million). Regions that have benefited the least from the trust fund are Ohangwena (N$10 million) and Erongo and Zambezi, which received N$12 million each followed by the Kunene Region, which received N$14 million.
By Mathias Haufiku