NC tears into parastatals

SHOULD Government close its eyes and continue to give away money to State-owned enterprises (SOEs) without any need for accountability? This was one of the issues members of the National Council addressed yesterday when they discussed the findings of a Select Committee that looked into the proposed SOE bill.

The bill’s intention is to allow Government to control and monitor parastatals. The NC Committee held public discussions on the proposed law in Windhoek last week, and reported that many representatives of SOEs had reservations about Government interference in their affairs.The Committee’s report was tabled in the House yesterday.It suggests several changes to the bill, largely in line with public input.Kicking off discussions on the findings, National Council Vice Chairperson Margreth Mensah-Williams said the Directors of SOEs often earned higher salaries than the State President while they squandered State resources.She recommended that the bill introduce a clause compelling managers of parastatals to declare their interests, as is the case with Members of Parliament.”They receive State money, so let them also declare.Parliament doesn’t even decide on its own benefits, but these people do?” she said.Outlining key issues raised at the hearing, Chairman of the Committee, Jhonny Hakaye said the committee heard concerns about the extent of control Government would exert over SOEs and the bill’s potential to scare of investors as a result.Hakaye said while contributors to the hearing had agreed with the formation of a Governance Council (GC) to steer the new direction in which parastatals will be run, not all were in agreement with its composition.”The ministers do not have the necessary skills; they’re already preoccupied with their ministerial activities; that will either scare potential investors or skilful and qualified personnel will leave for private practice,” Hakaye said.He said he was disappointed with some comments made by senior SOE officials that investment in SOEs would be affected by the proposed law.”Who are these potential investors we are talking about,” he asked.”And who are these qualified and skilled personnel we are going to lose? Are we really referring to all these intractable investors? The bottomless investors? If these were the investors that we are going to scare away then, believe you me, this is an excellent piece of legislation we are going to introduce to this nation,” he said.Agreeing with Hakaye, Mensah-Williams felt that investors would rather see the proposed law as incentive to invest in Namibia.”They want to know if their money will be secure.You can’t say that by putting in control mechanisms investors will go,” she said.The Council postponed discussion on the committee report until Monday, as members asked for time to go through the report and its recommendations.The NC Committee held public discussions on the proposed law in Windhoek last week, and reported that many representatives of SOEs had reservations about Government interference in their affairs.The Committee’s report was tabled in the House yesterday.It suggests several changes to the bill, largely in line with public input.Kicking off discussions on the findings, National Council Vice Chairperson Margreth Mensah-Williams said the Directors of SOEs often earned higher salaries than the State President while they squandered State resources.She recommended that the bill introduce a clause compelling managers of parastatals to declare their interests, as is the case with Members of Parliament.”They receive State money, so let them also declare.Parliament doesn’t even decide on its own benefits, but these people do?” she said.Outlining key issues raised at the hearing, Chairman of the Committee, Jhonny Hakaye said the committee heard concerns about the extent of control Government would exert over SOEs and the bill’s potential to scare of investors as a result.Hakaye said while contributors to the hearing had agreed with the formation of a Governance Council (GC) to steer the new direction in which parastatals will be run, not all were in agreement with its composition.”The ministers do not have the necessary skills; they’re already preoccupied with their ministerial activities; that will either scare potential investors or skilful and qualified personnel will leave for private practice,” Hakaye said.He said he was disappointed with some comments made by senior SOE officials that investment in SOEs would be affected by the proposed law.”Who are these potential investors we are talking about,” he asked.”And who are these qualified and skilled personnel we are going to lose? Are we really referring to all these intractable investors? The bottomless investors? If these were the investors that we are going to scare away then, believe you me, this is an excellent piece of legislation we are going to introduce to this nation,” he said.Agreeing with Hakaye, Mensah-Williams felt that investors would rather see the proposed law as incentive to invest in Namibia.”They want to know if their money will be secure.You can’t say that by putting in control mechanisms investors will go,” she said.The Council postponed discussion on the committee report until Monday, as members asked for time to go through the report and its recommendations.