Politicians want 50% pay rise

MATHIAS HAUFIKU

Local authority councillors could see their salaries double in the coming months under new proposals from the Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN.)

ALAN is the independent body responsible for overseeing local authorities’ salaries, pensions and other related expenditure.

The 50% pay hike request is contained in a letter sent to all local authorities last Thursday.

The last time local authority councillors received a salary increase was in 2017 when a 20% hike was approved.

In the letter, ALAN president Katrina Shimbulu said the proposal was benchmarked against allowances of South African Local Government Association (SALGA), e Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) and some parastatals.

“During the determination of the proposal below, serious consideration has been given on the financial sustainability, noting the economic challenges that smaller local authorities are facing,” she motivated.

Shimbulu said ALAN was requested in December 2020 by the urban and rural development ministry to give recommendation to the councillors’ allowances.

Some councillors have expressed unease about being awarded a pay rise at a time when many of their constituents are facing economic uncertainty.

If approved, mayors of part two municipalities such will see their annual salaries jump from N$88 910 to N$133 365.

The salaries of town council mayors will increase from N$77 500 to N$116 250.

Village council chairpersons will be earning N$68 619 under the new regime compared to the N$45 746 they are currently receiving.

ALAN also proposed that local authority councillors should receive N$350 in sitting allowances. Currently, only councillors serving in part one municipalities receive sitting allowances.

The association also wants the N$600 monthly cell phone allowance for councillors to be retained because “it has become important that means of communication has to be strengthened for all councillors to effectively communicate”.

No salary increase proposal has been made for the municipalities of Windhoek, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.

The salary hike proposal comes at a time when the country’s economy is teetering and civil servants have not received any salary increments for years now.

Village councils have five members, while town councils have seven to 12 members and municipal councils seven to 15 members – depending on their size.

Total rejection

Just last week, Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN) president, Titus Sitentu, bemoaned the fact that civil servants have not received any salary or benefits adjustment for the last six years.

During an interview with Namibian Sun yesterday, Sitentu said PSUn rejects the proposal and called on the line minister to reject the proposal.

“Why only politicians, the people that deserve the increment are the employees of these local authorities, it is illogical to give an increment to politicians who are even part-time,” he said.

Sitentu said there is no justification for the proposal.

“Most of them are already fulltime employees where they work daily. Over the years these very councillors have been rejected pay rise requests by employees of town councils saying there is no money, where will the money to fund this increment plan come from?” he questioned.

The PSUN president said councillors have become net consumers of the income generated by the local authorities.

“This consumerism manner of them is the reason why there is not enough money to provide basic services to the ratepayers,” he said.

Sitentu also called for the reform of the Local Authorities Act.

“Councillors get salaries already from their employers, they in actual fact just receive allowances. We also need to ensure that qualified people serve in these positions because, currently, you have a situation whereby a cleaner is voted onto council and that person becomes the supervisor of the CEO of the town council. Is this the system we want to run?” he questioned.