Simataa bemoans deteriorating govt infrastructure, inequality

Video and audio clips on neglected or abandoned government buildings have over the past few years gone viral.

Cabinet secretary George Simataa said this at the opening session of a retreat for executive directors of offices, ministries and agencies, and chief regional officers of regional councils, held at Swakopmund.

According to him, it has been reported that Namibia has good infrastructure compared to other countries, but it is gradually losing what has been built.

“When enquiries are made, the blame [game begins]. We start blaming each other instead of talking to each to correct the mistake. I want to assure you, my dear colleagues, that Namibians out there do not care which ministry or regional council is responsible for such irresponsible conduct.”

He said when infrastructure is neglected, Namibians have no one to blame except the government.

‘It’s your legacy’

“Infrastructure needs to be maintained and taken care of. That is your legacy.”

Simataa said executive directors and chief regional officers are tasked with maximising their institution’s contribution to this team effort.

“Whether you are managing our economy, improving our health services, striving to produce food for our country or protecting our environment, you are entrusted with tremendous responsibility, and the quality of your leadership, day to day, is a massive difference-maker for our team’s success.”

He added that the widening inequality among social groups means the government must undertake more quality-of-life programmes to improve the lives of the less fortunate.

According to Simataa, government has approved several social programmes to that effect.

While strategies have been developed to overcome this situation, he is aware of the fact that the lack of collaborative efforts and the absence of teamwork among stakeholders has caused these strategies to fail, resulting in the loss of human life, he said.

“We have confirmed reports of death of Namibians as a result of malnutrition cases in the Omaheke Region.”

Policy implementation

“The failure or success of policy implementation influences what policy-makers feel they can or want to do in the future,” he said.

He added that successful implementation depends greatly on administrative discretion and the know-how to get results.

“Narrowing the range of administrative latitude in implementation may limit the value of the process, while too broad a scope makes it impossible to obtain success.”

Simataa further noted that there is a need for accounting officers to pay attention to the human and financial resources required to create an agile administration and to develop policy-monitoring instruments, including the possibility of making corrections to courses of action if they are achieving sub-optimal results.

“It is indeed true that, in most cases, policies are not implemented by those who design them. Sometimes, they are pursued by actors or stakeholders from outside the public administration.”

For this reason, Namibia’s public service should make the state visible to its citizens and form the principal tangible link between the government and the people, he said.