Political parties have called on the government to ensure fair, strict and transparent tender processes given the decision to increase the development budget to N$12.8 billion.
They say this would stop the trend of “the same people” benefiting from big tenders.
Landless People’s Movement spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa, who has welcomed the increase of the development budget by finance and social grants management minister Erica Shafudah, says tender inequality remains of concern.
“Our concern is that there hasn’t been development factors on how to ensure local companies are benefiting and the economy is stimulated,” he says.
Simataa says there have been incidents where tenders are absorbed by one individual or organisation without employing a significant number of people.
“The process of tendering is quite important ..,” he says.
Simaata is concerned over how the government would ensure an increased budget reaches all Namibians.
He says strong mechanisms are needed to safeguard against wasting funds.
The development budget should be decentralised to other regions and not only benefit the Khomas and Erongo regions, Simataa says.
He believes regional economic stimulation could be the answer to unemployment.
Meanwhile, Rally for Democracy and Progress president Mike Kavekotora approves of the increased development budget.
“It’s about time to stimulate the economy through a bigger allocation to development projects. The development budget and tenderpreneurs are mutually exclusive,” he says.
He, however, says president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s administration should distance itself from awarding tenders dubiously and should apply prudent measures to ensure a healthy return on investment on every dollar spent.
Kavekotora urges Nandi-Ndaitwah to strive for a ratio of 40% developmental and 60% operational expenditure moving forward to stimulate the economy.
Ministry of Finance and Social Grants Management spokesperson Wilson Shikoto says the current system includes clear measures to prevent mismanagement and misappropriation.
“Accountability is placed on individuals, specifically executive directors and chief executives/managing directors of public entities as outlined in … the act,” he says.
He says the law also ensures the segregation of duties, ensuring transparency, fairness and accountability.
Shikoto says both procurement officials and bidders are held accountable.
“Those engaging in corrupt practices face legal consequences, including arrest, charges, or suspension/debarment … In short, the current procurement framework has safeguards in place to prevent the misuse of public funds,” he says.
United People’s Movement president Jan van Wyk says the sharp increase in the development budget was expected, considering the delays in the construction of various projects, such as the A1 road to the north, the new airport road and the construction of the B1 road to the south.
“Not much of the billions would go towards local entrepreneurs as below standard projects are being used as an opportunity to shift projects to foreign contractors,” he says.
Van Wyk says he is disappointed that a big chunk of the development budget is once again expected to be diverted to the operational budget during the midterm budget review.
He says this is caused by the continued late release of funds to the various projects and a procurement system that does not speak to the reality on the ground.
He says an expected 84% of the total development budget would go towards infrastructure development.
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