EDITORIAL: What happened to Geingob’s travel ban?
“Travelling was very lucrative for us as ministers. This is where we made money.” This compelling confession by disgraced former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau, in front of a High Court judge during his bail application, tells us of the rot brewing under our noses.
Forget Fishrot for a moment; we also have S&T-rot. The storm and tomfoolery around higher education minister Dr Itah Kandjii-Murangi’s travelling allowances speaks exactly to Esau’s unsolicited testimony.
In the honeymoon phase of the Geingob presidency, the president announced a ban on foreign trips for top government officials, including ministers, so that they could concentrate on resolving domestic problems.
That podium rhetoric came in April 2015 – a month into his presidency. While that ban was to compel ministers to stay home and do their work, a similar directive was made in January 2018, when the president said this time he was banning foreign trips “in the interest of curtailing public expenditure”.
If Geingob is serious about bringing down the hammer on excessive travelling by members of his executive – and particularly how much this is costing the taxpayer – he will need to impose more than just a letter requesting permission to travel.
For example, it is highly unlikely that Geingob would have permitted Kandjii-Murangi’s trip to Korea if he was aware that the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) would be funding the trip to the tune of N$140 000 – money that should be invested in educating the Namibian youth.
Forget Fishrot for a moment; we also have S&T-rot. The storm and tomfoolery around higher education minister Dr Itah Kandjii-Murangi’s travelling allowances speaks exactly to Esau’s unsolicited testimony.
In the honeymoon phase of the Geingob presidency, the president announced a ban on foreign trips for top government officials, including ministers, so that they could concentrate on resolving domestic problems.
That podium rhetoric came in April 2015 – a month into his presidency. While that ban was to compel ministers to stay home and do their work, a similar directive was made in January 2018, when the president said this time he was banning foreign trips “in the interest of curtailing public expenditure”.
If Geingob is serious about bringing down the hammer on excessive travelling by members of his executive – and particularly how much this is costing the taxpayer – he will need to impose more than just a letter requesting permission to travel.
For example, it is highly unlikely that Geingob would have permitted Kandjii-Murangi’s trip to Korea if he was aware that the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) would be funding the trip to the tune of N$140 000 – money that should be invested in educating the Namibian youth.
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