Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698938727189.pdf (Namibia)
~ Q.~ .

r" it TilE RALLY FOR DE~IOCRACY At~D PROGRESS (RDP. }

~, A P. O.
Box 81500 Olympia, Windhoek * Tel/Fax: +264 (0)61 255973 * Fax2E-mail: +264 (0)886 15773 * Email: hq@rdp.org.na * 18Schonlein Street, Windhoek West • Website: www.rdp.org.na CONTRIBUTION BY HONOURABLE MIKE RA TOVENI KA VEKOTORA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, ON THE DEBATE OF THE APPROPRIATION BILL 2017 /2018 Thursday, the 16th March 2017 Honorable Speaker, Honorable Members of the august House, time of commodity is presented at a I concur with the Honorable Minister of Finance that this budget difficult economy and a comparatively low growth in larger regional economies.
These economic realities and some other internal factors led to a financial crisis second to none and the economy is estimated to have grown by a mere 1.3% in 2016. crash, a slowing global price to favorably consider is tabled in Parliament is requested by the Honorable Minister Parliament the Appropriation Bill 2017 / 2018 and the 2017 / 2018 - 2019/2020 MTEF.

Once for consideration without any input by this budget again, parliamentarians.
What the budget without having a clue on the assumptions made that informed the appropriation of It is about time for the Executive to stop funds to various sectors and ministries.

this non-transparent the Appropriation Bill.


is expected from us is to favorably consider to rubberstamp Parliament requesting practice of system that The British parliament influenced Namibia and some other African countries to focus on ex-post budget supervision at the evaluation stage is not It is not enough for the Office of the Auditor General and the serving us well.

Parliamentary on events subsequent to budget implementation.
Public Accounts Committee to review and report There is a serious need for budget supervision at preparation stage.

Many countries, including some African states have changed to a system where they not only focus review by the Auditor General and Public their oversight Accounts Committee but focuses on budget supervision at preparation stage.

This oversight is performed by a strong Budget Committee supported by a Parliamentary Budget Office.
function on subsequent 1 Currently, parliament understanding of the program design and the implementation plan.

between budgeted figures and cost drivers is neither defined nor understood.

is focusing on numbers provided by the Executive without the The link High emphasis is put on expenditure budget oversight versus revenue generation.

The time and a Parliamentary Budget Office for the following reasons: to establish a Budget Committee is now for parliament • To detect and prevent abuse of funds.
• To prevent illegal government.

and unconstitutional conduct on the part of the • To protect the rights and liberties of the citizens.

• To make government operation more transparent and increase public trust in the government.

Honorable Speaker, Honourable Members, There is very little we can do to the external economic environment of commodity price crash and natural disasters such as the prolonged droughts and the likes.
However, there is a lot we can do to the internal environment to mitigate the impact of the external shocks.

Honorable Speaker, the needs and aspirations of Namibia is still failing to a larger extend to meet ordinary Namibians.

Poverty is still a burning issue.

Unemployment in general is high and even higher among the youth of Namibia.

The gap between the rich and the poor is still widening, perhaps with the exception of some of those politically well-connected to the ruling Swapo Party.
The distribution of wealth in general is skewed.

The resettlement policy has failed miserably and the provision of houses to the needy is still a challenge.

Mass Housing Scheme has failed to make a dent in housing backlog to the needy.

It failed because like most other government projects such as TIPEEG, it is politically motivated, with very little assessment on its social impact.
The projects are meant to win elections and to transfer funds to relatives, friends and the politically connected tenderpreneurs, both local and foreigners.

2 r !

L ( ...S/ Ll~ C cr-) (&h CA.L speech that saying in his budget I heard the Honorable Minister sustainable development means development without depleting one's resources.

He also said if one "Our children should never be worse off than we are".
Honorable Minister, look at the current scene of unemployment rate, challenges in the education system and lack of service delivery, our children are already worse off.

They are worse off is failing in those areas that matter most to the man on the because the government street and in the village, and succeed only in the areas where benefits do not accrue to the ordinary citizen: • The government is failing in food security to the extent that some of our learners have to go to school on empty stomachs.
• The government has failed to provide adequate shelter to the needy.

• The government struggle to provide quality education to the nation.

• The government has failed to root out corruption that is robbing the nation of much-needed financial resources.

is using education as a political It is ironic that the government tool.

When the incoming President announced that secondary education was going to be offered for free, I knew that than a well it was more of a political pronouncement thought idea.
My suspicion was confirmed by the Honorable Minister of Education when her Deputy responded to my question on free education in this august House.

She informed the nation and this house that no study was conducted, and relied on research done on primary education.

the sustainability of such a decision became questionable.
I am therefore not surprised that rather One year into "offering free secondary education", we find ourselves as a country it will have a detrimental cutting the education budget drastically to a level that I urge the Honorable Minister of effect on the future of education in this country.

Education to go back to parents, apologize and request them to once again dig deeper in their largely empty pockets to fund the deficit.
Honourable Speaker, Honorable Members, I could not agree more with the Honorable Minister of Finance when he said "Corruption, or better the fight against it needs our full attention".

Whether it is the misuse of office, soliciting and receiving bribes, inflating tender prices or whatever improper conduct of persons who further their personal gain to the detriment of common good must be dealt with, not only going forward but also retrospectively to recover some of the society's losses.
3 Research has revealed that in any given society, about 10% are incorruptible, about 10% will always behave corruptly, and 80% could go either way, depending on the circumstances.

A lack of deterrence, poor understanding of the implications of behaving corruptly, poor law enforcement, impunity from the consequences and a culture of entitlement are all circumstances that fuel the incidences of corruption.
strong institutions backed by strong laws Conversely, are effectively implemented; an educated public to the corrosive nature of corruption; independent justice system with and effective anti-corruption machinery, resources and capacity to arrest, prosecute and convict those involved in corruption; and a culture of responsible, accountable and responsive governance, all combined to create circumstances in which corruption cannot thrive.
These requisite elements are lacking in Namibia, hence rampant corruption.

functional criminal that the Honorable With reference to recent debates in this august House, Minister of Works and Transport to judge the extent of corruption in Namibia based on the above has been institutionalized or not.

and draw his own conclusion whether corruption I want Where are we and where is the 80% of our population that are waiting to be swayed the incorruptible or the corruptible?

What either way.
What either way.

Who are more powerful; culture is prevailing in Namibia today?

Aren't we giving the bigger segment of our society a wrong message and signal that corruption pays and corrupt citizens are I leave all these up to wrongly perceived as successful businessmen and women?

your conscience.

I am happy that the Honorable Minister acknowledged the prevalence of corruption because it is only through acknowledgement that one move into action to address and eliminate an unwanted behavior.
Corruption in our country has reached critical proportions.

There is no doubt about it.

It is not only that perception of corruption worsening have increased, levels of corruption have increased if newspaper reports are anything to go by.

there is hard evidence that actual it would appear that certain highly In spite of investigations in cases of corruption, and in certain instances, evading placed individuals are evading investigations prosecution, insist on the thereby flouting the rule of law.
The government must adherence to the rule of law if we are to have any hope of rooting out all vestiges of corruption that is negatively affecting Namibia in all respects.

4 The Swapo Party-led government's comrades" must come to an end.

Namibians but it also denies the society services from qualified fellow citizens.
adherence to the unwritten policy of "jobs for It not only eliminates fair access to jobs by all In addition, the government should consider establishing a new and effective anti- corruption unit similar to the dissolved South African Directorate of Special Operations also known as Scorpions.

Honourable Speaker, Honourable Members, I still stand by what I said during last year's budget debate: a) Privatize some of the commercial SOEs' such as Air Namibia, prudently.
b) Invest in our railway system to stimulate economic growth.

c) Unbundle NamPower their monopolistic tendencies.

to reduce Allow independent power producers to enter the market.

d) Stop wasting money on the failed Mass Housing Project.

e) Reduce borrowing denominated in foreign currencies.

from preferring f) Move political away pronouncements over economic consi derati ons.

g) Move away from initiating politically motivated projects and start running this country on prudent economic principles.
h) Identify and curb financial outflows.

i) Pay invoices on time to prevent bankruptcy in the private sector, particularly the SMEs.

j) Fight poverty through economic growth.

I THANK YOU.

5