Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Popular Democratic Movement Member of Parliament, Maximalliant Katjimune said the government should adopt a leaner approach when establishing institutions to avoid duplication of mandates and save taxpayer money.
On Tuesday, Katjimune was motivating his motion for Parliament to consider debating the merging of the National Youth Council (NYC) into the National Youth Service (NYS).
According to him, this will put an end to the duplication of responsibilities, programmes, resources, and overlapping policies affecting the youth demographic.
He said the powers and functions performed by NYC and NYS are similar, although not identical.
“From a public administration and governance perspective, the government must question whether these functions are so fundamentally different that it warrants the creation of two different bodies to execute them effectively. This is a clear duplication of responsibilities, programmes, resources, and conflicting policies,” he argued.
Katjimune accused NYC of being incapable of managing its own affairs after the line minister recently launched an investigation into it.
The ministry was probing allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and non-compliance.
The probe revolved around internal conflicts between the Executive Chairperson and the Director of NYC, which he said caused a significant disruption within the organisation.
“The Director further faces accusations of interfering in the procurement system, facilitating an unauthorised payment of approximately N$300 000 to Jeovani Properties for renovations at the NYC’s head office. She is also accused of committing the NYC to a contract exceeding N$470 000 without budget approval,” he said.
Katjimune suggests merging the existing civic and skills training programs offered by the National Youth Service with the various horticultural, mushroom, and charcoal productions run by the National Youth Council in the Erongo, Kunene, Omusati, Oshana, Ohangwena, and Oshikoto regions.
“The effect of these reforms will result in one unitary, solid body administering youth affairs with synergy and efficiency, without any clash or contradiction, similar to the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in South Africa,” he alluded to.
Katjimune explained that the lean governance approach has proven effective in several countries and contributes immensely to the government’s ability to provide higher-quality, more efficient, faster, and more transparent services to citizens.
“In 2017, India merged 94 government departments into only 37, which saw a major increase in service delivery and structural cost output. Equally in 2017, the Singaporean government executed one of the most successful mergers of government agencies,” he said.
