Martin Endjala
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, has urged Local Authorities to play their roles effectively if the government is to succeed in realising its policy objective to promote highly sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development.
She said Local Authorities are the first point of contact with the government by residents and businesses in urban areas as society is becoming increasingly urbanised.
She made these remarks yesterday at the official opening of the Association for Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN) and Namibia University Science Technology 2023 Good Governance, Leadership, and Project Management Training at Ongwediva in the Oshana Region.
To ensure the realisation of the important interventions required for the local authorities to cater to the needs of its residents, the PM noted that local authorities are required to find innovative ways to generate revenue.
She further emphasised that they must also optimally manage the available resources to ensure value for money, in order to achieve more with the limited resources that are currently available.
Additionally, this also includes the timely execution of agreed programs to eliminate delays in service provision and reduce project cost escalations, as well as innovation to ensure efficient administration and effective service delivery to private citizens and businesses, as well as transparency and accountability.
“The expectation of government is for local authorities to embrace the principles of teamwork amongst the various stakeholders involved in governance and local development, professionalism ethics, and integrity,” she said.
She said that the government policies are geared toward achieving human-centred development, where economic growth and development translate into improved welfare conditions of communities and where the citizens are capacitated to realise the national development objectives.
Furthermore, she stated that Local authorities play a leading role in fostering socio-economic development in their local areas, by ensuring efficient and effective services to their residents, and by attracting and nurturing business in their areas, in order to support the growth of their respective economies and optimise opportunities for employment and poverty reduction amongst residents.
As such, the premier stressed that it is critical that their governance systems are robust, with the capacity and resilience to deal with complex challenges and rapidly adapt to change, and that their human resources possess the necessary skills and competencies to ensure optimal performance of local authorities and effective public service delivery.
Hence, her argument that infightings between local authority leaders and staff members and any unethical conduct divert attention and resources from the pressing priorities that require urgent attention, leaving the public underserved.
It is her hope that the training programme will ensure that leaders are capacitated to transform Local Authorities into high-performing institutions and leading agents of transformation of society and economy.
