Staff Reporter
ABOUT 22 regional and town councils are behind on their auditing submissions and the majority of these councils are located in northern Namibia.
This was revealed by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), after assessing 14 regional councils as well as 18 additional local authorities (mainly municipalities and larger town councils) in the country to evaluate levels of transparency and accountability exhibited by the councils. The findings of the assessment were recently released in a report titled “Local and regional government in Namibia annual governance assessment”.
According to the IPPR, 13 northern regional and town councils are behind on their audit submissions. This includes the Kunene, Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Kavango West, Kavango East and Zambezi regional councils as well as the town councils of Opuwo, Outapi, Tsumeb, Oshakati, Rundu and Katima Mulilo.
Among the aforementioned councils, the Kavango West Regional Council is the most behind, according to the IPPR, as its latest report covered the 2015/2016 financial year and received an adverse opinion. The Rundu and Outapi town councils are among the town councils that are most behind as both councils’ latest reports only covered the 2016/2017 financial years.
The Rundu and Outapi town councils were also rated among the worst-performing councils in the country by the IPPR. Besides the outdated audit submissions, the two councils’ poor service delivery and subnational development between September 2020 and August 2022 were highlighted as some of the factors that contributed to the town councils’ poor performance rating.
In Outapi Town Council’s case, the IPPR highlighted last year’s water disconnection, which affected 426 households, as well as the provision of low-quality water as some of the factors that compromised the council’s service delivery.
Rundu Town Council’s poor performance rating was attributed to the council’s failure to improve decaying roads infrastructure, despite having N$5,5 million allocated for road improvement. According to the IPPR, the Rundu Town Council only used 30% of its total allocation for road improvement and left huge potholes unattended to.
These town councils were not the only ones featured on the worst-performing list, nor are they the only ones that are behind with auditing submissions.
The IPPR also revealed that the Erongo, Otjozondjupa, Omaheke and //Kharas regional councils are also behind with their auditing submissions. The Grootfontein, Rehoboth, Mariental, Keetmanshoop, Karasburg and Lüderitz town councils were also revealed to be behind with their auditing submissions.
According to the IPPR, Lüderitz Town Council is three years behind on audit submissions, with the latest audit report published in May 2020 for the 2016/2017 financial year. Rehoboth Town Council is four years behind, with its latest report covering the 2015/2016 financial year, while Mariental is half a decade behind.
The //Kharas Regional Council, Karasburg Town Council and the Mariental Town Council were also listed among the worst-performing councils in the IPPR’s report.
Some of the factors that contributed to these councils’ poor performance rating include //Kharas Regional Council’s lack of a Management Committee and the arrest of the Mariental Councillor Shuketamaba Michael Jonas for possession of marijuana worth N$231 000. Another factor that was considered is the allegations against Karasburg Town Council’s suspended Finance Manager, Mervin Amupolo, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in connection with N$10 million that was allegedly diverted from the council’s bank accounts into private accounts.
