Govt's misplaced priorities

Yet another scandal has engulfed the government following reports that surfaced on Monday linking one of its ministries to a multimillion-dollar property deal in Angola's Luanda. A local company, Afrikuumba, has been in talks with industrialisation ministry officials for a quite some time now, according to media reports, to seal a deal that would have seen government to buy a N$117 million property in Angola. According to The Namibian, which broke the story on Monday, the land in question is owned by businessman Titus Nakuumba through his Afrikuumba business. The newspaper claimed the property included a plot measuring 14 000 square metres and buildings on 20 000 square metres. It also said government apparently wanted to build a business park with offices, workshops, housing units and warehouses. The parties involved have now been stopped dead in their tracks, after finance minister Calle Schlettwein raised alarm bells about the purported deal, saying no treasury approval was granted for government to acquire the property. He added that the rules and regulations under the new procurement board had also not been followed, before asking the industrialisation ministry to abandon the property deal with immediate effect. It appears that many other government officials, including the office of the attorney-general and works ministry, were privy to the details pertaining to the deal, as there was reportedly great interest in the Angolan deal. Given government's poor financial status, which has seen hospitals running out of drugs and massive budget cuts at ministries, was it really necessary for the industrialisation ministry to push for such a deal? This is irresponsible and wasteful. It is also an indictment on government and clearly shows its priorities are misplaced. This begs the question whether our leaders are really committed to promoting a greater level of transparency and accountability, especially in instances where taxpayer money is involved. It is equally sad that officials who fail to comply with applicable legislation are never held responsible for their actions. Government must expose those involved in wrongdoing and take appropriate and timely action against all the transgressors. It can't be business as usual, while those that need to be prioritised perpetually get the shortest end of the stick.