National Unity Democratic Organisation parliamentarian Josef Kauandenge has expressed dismay at what he describes as meagre salaries paid to local authority councillors, saying it deters them from performing their work effectively.
“On one hand, you have regional councillors that are slightly better paid, with medical aid and a pension, while on the other hand you have local authority councillors that have equal tasks, but are paid peanuts compared to their counterparts,” said Kauandenge, a former City of Windhoek councillor himself.
He made this contribution in the National Assembly on Tuesday when he re-tabled his motion on the state of local authorities.
In the motion, Kauandenge said one of the shortcomings of the Local Authorities Act is that the line minister has too much power, and can reward and punish with impunity those he or she disagrees with. As it stands, some mayors receive a yearly allowance of N$88 910, the deputy mayor N$81 289, the management committee chairperson N$83 828, and the management committee members N$81 289, whereas ordinary council members receive N$76 209. Town council mayors receive a yearly allowance of N$77 500, the deputy mayor N$69 751, the management committee chairperson N$72 333, the management committee members N$67 167, while ordinary council members receive N$64 584. Village council chairpersons receive a yearly allowance of N$45 746, the vice chairperson gets N$40 364 while ordinary members receive an allowance of N$34 982. This is, however, a far cry from what councillors serving on the Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund municipal councils earn in monthly allowances. Windhoek councillors, for example, can earn up to over N$40 000 per month, inclusive of sitting allowances. In fact, government last year rejected a proposal to increase the monthly allowances of Windhoek councillors by 5% due to the worsening economic conditions, exacerbated by the adverse effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. “In this ever-changing world with inflation, many councillors’ salaries have not been adjusted for a very long time now, yet the cost of living continues to increase on a daily basis,” Kauandenge reasoned. He stated that if the government is to ensure that local governments provide adequate, equitable and timely service to their respective residents, the Act must be amended to ensure that there are full-time councillors who will devote their time and energy to the work at hand. Meanwhile, Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN)’s president Katrina Shimbulu had made a proposal to the government to consider approving a 50% pay hike for local authority councillors as part of their monthly allowances. However, the proposal was rejected by urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni last year, saying the country’s economy, having been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, is still recovering. At the time, the minister stated that it would not be possible. “It will not be fair to everyone, especially now that there are those who lost their jobs due to Covid-19, and you are increasing allowances for councillors. It will not be fair at all. Therefore, we must just do with the little we have”, Uutoni stressed. According to ALAN’s recommendation, a mayor of a tier two municipality who currently earns N$88 910 should qualify for a proposed annual allowance of N$133 365, while a deputy mayor should get N$121 933, compared to the current yearly allowance of N$81 289. ALAN also recommended a yearly allowance of N$125 742 for chairpersons of management committees, and N$114 313 for ordinary council members. For town councils, ALAN recommended N$116 250 for a mayor, N$104 626 for a deputy mayor and N$108 499 in annual allowances for management committee chairpersons. The association also wanted ordinary councillors serving on town councils to receive a yearly allowance of N$96 876, instead of the current N$64 584.