Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698749471323.pdf (Namibia)
"SPEECH HGN NAWASES-TAEYElE'\ \, '\ Honorable Speaker and Honorable Members of Parliament, " ~~ w~~~ .

I rise to add my voice to the debate on the 2013/14 budget.

May I take this opportunity to commend the Honourable Minister, the Permanent Secretary and the entire staff of the Ministry of Finance for a job well done.

I am very concerned about the unemployment rate, especially amongst women and the youth, in Namibia.
It is against this background that I want to draw our attention to the decentralization policy which stipulates the need for deconcentration, delegation and devolution of power by transferring authority, responsibility and accountability from central to regional and local government thereby transferring authority, responsibility and accountability to regional and local government Authorities ~~~~ Honorable Speaker, I am aware and equally appreciative of the achievements made in the decentralization process but wish to 1 express my d~sta~~f~tion with the pace at which it is driven.
We '\ can certainly do better.

Having said the latter I wish to submit a proposal on how, within the context of decentralization, the government can create jobs for the Youth and Women.

Our government is by far the largest procurer of goods and services in Namibia, however these goods and services are only sourced from large companies which are owned by a few individual shareholders.

Some companies are even owned by individuals.


This procurement system must come to an end and goods and services should be procured as per the following proposal: • The Procurement for goods and services, under the auspices of the new Procurement Bill that the Honourable Minister has mentioned in her speech must be fast-tracked ..,.
:,.~,,.v..u.~" '<.,:,~l<..- ~<:>~~ and, I ~ ""'- ~ app:ea:l=t-O=ihe-I:io.n=~r that the bill will speak to decentralisation that the regional councils can procure through their local tender Boards.

2 • Regional Councils must establish fully functional and efficient regional economic development departments if not already in place.

• Regional Councils should establish community cooperatives with members not exceeding 10.
• Initial funding for cooperatives should come from regional development funds for startup capital.

• These cooperatives should get preferential treatment in the procurement of goods and services and their activities should be supervised by the Regional Council.

• Tenders which are beyond the capacity of the cooperatives should be organised In portions manageable by cooperatives.

• These cooperatives should include youth, women and physically challenged members of the respective regions.
Capacity building for the members can be dealt with by the Regional Councils, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance, Vocational Centers and Civil Society Organizations like IMLT.
3 ~~~--') Honorable Speaker) ~'<'\"''-.Qr,~'>--S~ Please allow me to cite an example to make my proposal clearer: Companies providing catering services to government should be compelled by the regional tender boards to procure all goods and services from these cooperatives, provided that quality and supply timelines are adhered to.

Strict monitoring to ensure full compliance should be the order of the day.

I am told that the preferential procurement provisions exist but they seem not to be complied with.
If the preferential procurement is being implemented at the moment at the level and scale I am proposing, I have definitely not seen it filtering through to the intended beneficiaries.

If the ~ is adhered to; we would have a much lower unemployment statistic today.

An example would be the supply of bread by Cooperative A to the Katutura State Hospital and Cooperative B to the Windhoek Central Prison.
4 The proposed procurement practice provides a secure market place for the cooperatives since payment for goods and services supplied is guaranteed.

My conviction is that this approach will help us alleviate poverty and reduce unemployment, especially among the Youth and Women.
It is against this background that I am proposing increased funding for the Regional Councils through the Trust Fund for Regional Development and Equity Provision as established by an Act of this House and that these funds be distributed equally between the respective regions in order to promote development and alleviate poverty in the regions.

5