City announces N$5bn budget
Focus on service delivery, infrastructure
The budget focuses on service delivery, with the capital budget focusing on infrastructure maintenance, Uapingene said.
The City of Windhoek yesterday announced the approval of its N$5 billion 2023/2024 budget.
The capital expenditure portion totals N$513 million, of which N$507 million was approved - with approximately N$460 million earmarked for infrastructure and housing projects.
Windhoek mayor Joseph Uapingene said the budget focuses on the efficiency of service delivery, with the capital budget focusing on infrastructure maintenance and creating additional infrastructure in the areas of water and electricity to cater to the demands of the growing city.
"The budget also makes significant provision to ensure that our land delivery and council housing objectives are met. Council deliberated on the budget at a workshop in May, to subsequently table it for onward submission to the line minister for approval.
“Several interventions were also identified during the last quarter by way of mitigating some of the constraints faced by the City," he said.
Debt
Uapingene further noted that the finance department will look at the municipality’s debt book, which stands at N$1.2 billion as of 31 October, of which N$963 million is in arrears.
"The exercise seeks to identify the long outstanding debts that are assessed as not collectible. Thereafter, recommendations for appropriate measures to clear the debt will be made - one of which is to consider incentives that encourage residents to pay their debts and thereby relieve the City and residents of the current debt.”
The mayor also called councillors to guard against speaking out against "unfortunate events" that transpired during the last financial year, urging them to reflect on the way they treat information about the municipality.
"As chairperson of the council, I would like to appeal to fellow councillors to reflect on the way they treat sensitive information which may have far-reaching consequences that place the organisation's image and reputation at risk,” he said.
“The unfortunate events that transpired and played out over the last one and a half financial years are just an example of the kind of conduct that is detrimental to the organisation," Uapingene added.
Snail’s pace
Meanwhile, a workshop on governance – facilitated by the municipality’s legal division - will take place in early 2024 to address, amongst other things, the code of conduct and the roles and responsibilities of councilors, he said.
"I am concerned about the alarmingly slow rate of execution against our budget, which was further exacerbated by the cash-flow constraints; however, I believe this financial year will be better!
“That said, the City is exploring various smart city and information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to enhance our revenue-collection efforts and improve our service delivery value proposition," he said.
The capital expenditure portion totals N$513 million, of which N$507 million was approved - with approximately N$460 million earmarked for infrastructure and housing projects.
Windhoek mayor Joseph Uapingene said the budget focuses on the efficiency of service delivery, with the capital budget focusing on infrastructure maintenance and creating additional infrastructure in the areas of water and electricity to cater to the demands of the growing city.
"The budget also makes significant provision to ensure that our land delivery and council housing objectives are met. Council deliberated on the budget at a workshop in May, to subsequently table it for onward submission to the line minister for approval.
“Several interventions were also identified during the last quarter by way of mitigating some of the constraints faced by the City," he said.
Debt
Uapingene further noted that the finance department will look at the municipality’s debt book, which stands at N$1.2 billion as of 31 October, of which N$963 million is in arrears.
"The exercise seeks to identify the long outstanding debts that are assessed as not collectible. Thereafter, recommendations for appropriate measures to clear the debt will be made - one of which is to consider incentives that encourage residents to pay their debts and thereby relieve the City and residents of the current debt.”
The mayor also called councillors to guard against speaking out against "unfortunate events" that transpired during the last financial year, urging them to reflect on the way they treat information about the municipality.
"As chairperson of the council, I would like to appeal to fellow councillors to reflect on the way they treat sensitive information which may have far-reaching consequences that place the organisation's image and reputation at risk,” he said.
“The unfortunate events that transpired and played out over the last one and a half financial years are just an example of the kind of conduct that is detrimental to the organisation," Uapingene added.
Snail’s pace
Meanwhile, a workshop on governance – facilitated by the municipality’s legal division - will take place in early 2024 to address, amongst other things, the code of conduct and the roles and responsibilities of councilors, he said.
"I am concerned about the alarmingly slow rate of execution against our budget, which was further exacerbated by the cash-flow constraints; however, I believe this financial year will be better!
“That said, the City is exploring various smart city and information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to enhance our revenue-collection efforts and improve our service delivery value proposition," he said.
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