Spend the money, Uutoni urges regions
Urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni has called upon regional leadership to refrain from misusing funds or letting monies allocated to them sit idle in bank accounts. Instead, regions should spend the money available to them to the benefit of the masses who are “languishing in poverty”.
Uutoni made the remarks on Monday during the official opening of a five-day rural development progress review and planning workshop currently underway in Rundu.
The minister explained that it is not in the interest of the public for regions to keep monies in their bank accounts, yet demand for more money from the state.
“It is disheartening and unacceptable to hear that funds allocated to poverty eradication and employment creation projects in rural areas are either misused or sitting unutilised in bank accounts of regional councils while the target rural communities are languishing in poverty,” he said.
“When you send your budget to the ministry and we ask for some more information as to how you utilised the previous budget, sometimes you come across a given region [still] has money in the accounts.
“This money was budgeted for and dedicated to be utilised for rural development but you hear ‘we have N$1.4 million in our account’, but the budget year is already gone.
“Now you ask yourself is, why is this money in your bank account?”
Accelerate execution
“You are demanding from the ministry to give you more, but you have millions in your account. I want to tell you that you will not be a rich region if you are keeping money in your bank account,” Uutoni quipped.
“This should not be allowed, and I thus call on the responsible units in the ministry and the political leadership in the regions to do everything possible in order to accelerate execution and implementation of the rural development budget and projects.”
The minister also used the opportunity to urge the private sector to join government’s efforts towards rural development.
“The involvement of the local private sector in rural development is equally critical and will - among other things - help to build a strong rural economy.
“So, I am inviting the private sector to invest in rural areas as both a market and a base for production,” Uutoni said.
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Uutoni made the remarks on Monday during the official opening of a five-day rural development progress review and planning workshop currently underway in Rundu.
The minister explained that it is not in the interest of the public for regions to keep monies in their bank accounts, yet demand for more money from the state.
“It is disheartening and unacceptable to hear that funds allocated to poverty eradication and employment creation projects in rural areas are either misused or sitting unutilised in bank accounts of regional councils while the target rural communities are languishing in poverty,” he said.
“When you send your budget to the ministry and we ask for some more information as to how you utilised the previous budget, sometimes you come across a given region [still] has money in the accounts.
“This money was budgeted for and dedicated to be utilised for rural development but you hear ‘we have N$1.4 million in our account’, but the budget year is already gone.
“Now you ask yourself is, why is this money in your bank account?”
Accelerate execution
“You are demanding from the ministry to give you more, but you have millions in your account. I want to tell you that you will not be a rich region if you are keeping money in your bank account,” Uutoni quipped.
“This should not be allowed, and I thus call on the responsible units in the ministry and the political leadership in the regions to do everything possible in order to accelerate execution and implementation of the rural development budget and projects.”
The minister also used the opportunity to urge the private sector to join government’s efforts towards rural development.
“The involvement of the local private sector in rural development is equally critical and will - among other things - help to build a strong rural economy.
“So, I am inviting the private sector to invest in rural areas as both a market and a base for production,” Uutoni said.
[email protected]
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