Uutoni irked by councillors doing admin work
Erastus Uutoni, the minister of urban and rural development, last week urged all local authority councillors to focus on their appointments and stop doing administration and finance work that causes them to neglect their duties.
A visibly annoyed Uutoni said politicians have now taken on other roles when they are supposed to be decision-makers in the process of service delivery in their respective towns.
He was speaking during a good governance, leadership and project management training by the Association of Local Authorities of Namibia (ALAN), in collaboration with the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), at Ongwediva.
“As representatives of central government, I wish to remind you that the responsibilities entrusted upon you as leaders of your respective local authorities are of enormous magnitude [and the Namibian people] depend on your decisions and performance,” he said, adding that councillors have a duty to ensure that services are delivered successfully and competently at their respective local authorities.
According to Uutoni, there is a growing concern in some local authorities where councillors become bank signatories for their local authorities and pay contractors, which he said is unacceptable and “very wrong”.
His comments come after the Karasburg town council “unprocedurally” had a bank account signatory arrangement with councillors, and not management.
Uutoni instructed the Karasburg councillors to reverse what he termed irregularities and threatened to dissolve the council.
Same direction
“There are some councils who do not use the public resources prudently with some forms of wrong priorities, abuses of public funds, abuse of power, tribalism, victimisation and intimidation that are taking place,” he said.
The minister stressed that councillors should remember what their responsibilities entail, ensuring appropriate governance structures that will enable citizens to live a decent and dignified life.
“In order for us to effectively execute the mandate, it is critical that we have the necessary tools in place and work together as a team pulling in same direction,” he said, adding that councillors should shelve their political hats outside council gates and put aside their political differences when in meetings for the interest of the Namibian people.
A visibly annoyed Uutoni said politicians have now taken on other roles when they are supposed to be decision-makers in the process of service delivery in their respective towns.
He was speaking during a good governance, leadership and project management training by the Association of Local Authorities of Namibia (ALAN), in collaboration with the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), at Ongwediva.
“As representatives of central government, I wish to remind you that the responsibilities entrusted upon you as leaders of your respective local authorities are of enormous magnitude [and the Namibian people] depend on your decisions and performance,” he said, adding that councillors have a duty to ensure that services are delivered successfully and competently at their respective local authorities.
According to Uutoni, there is a growing concern in some local authorities where councillors become bank signatories for their local authorities and pay contractors, which he said is unacceptable and “very wrong”.
His comments come after the Karasburg town council “unprocedurally” had a bank account signatory arrangement with councillors, and not management.
Uutoni instructed the Karasburg councillors to reverse what he termed irregularities and threatened to dissolve the council.
Same direction
“There are some councils who do not use the public resources prudently with some forms of wrong priorities, abuses of public funds, abuse of power, tribalism, victimisation and intimidation that are taking place,” he said.
The minister stressed that councillors should remember what their responsibilities entail, ensuring appropriate governance structures that will enable citizens to live a decent and dignified life.
“In order for us to effectively execute the mandate, it is critical that we have the necessary tools in place and work together as a team pulling in same direction,” he said, adding that councillors should shelve their political hats outside council gates and put aside their political differences when in meetings for the interest of the Namibian people.
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Namibian Sun
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