WINDHOEK – Deputy governor of the Bank of Namibia Ebson Uanguta has been seconded to head the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) for a period of six months, while a substantive commissioner is being appointed.
Finance minister Calle Schlettwein confirmed the appointment yesterday.
“This will be an arrangement for the first six months to provide us with a chance to have the commissioner and the board to develop the structure and staff recruitment,” said Schlettwein.
“Thereafter, Mr Uanguta will go back to his position at the bank and we will proceed with recruiting the commissioner. This is being done because the selection from the interview that was done did not meet all our requirements and that process has to be redone. We are thankful for the Bank of Namibia to have assisted. The Act has been passed and gazetted. We have appointed the board and a commissioner (Uanguta) has now been appointed.”
The finance minister added the recruitment process is complicated because the tax collection cannot be interrupted.
“We have to have the systems running until the last day and on the same day switch over to NamRa system which will take over as the Receiver of Revenue of Namibia. Government remains committed to bringing NamRa online within the current financial year,” said Schlettwein.
He emphasised that preparatory activities for NamRa have been extended because of key dependency activities that have to be completed and reiterated government’s committed to the establishment of the Namibia Revenue Agency.
NamRa’s operations will be funded through government budget appropriations, based on costed and prioritised programmes. The annual report with audited financial statements is to be annually tabled in Parliament. In exercising its operational autonomy, the agency is expected to adopt its own internal policies separate from those of the public service to achieve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. This includes, among others, financial, IT, procurement, risk management and human resources policies to enable the agency to be able to attract and retain critical skills.