Hertta-Maria Amutenja
City of Windhoek (CoW) leadership has revealed that the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development owes the city over N$100 million, adding to the capital city’s ongoing fiscal challenges.
This revelation comes alongside the approval of the city’s 2023/24 budget, which has grown to a substantial N$5 billion.
“The ministry owes us N$ 110 million including interest. They have committed to repay it. We are expecting an answer soon on what will be refunded,” said CoW Strategic executive for Finance and Customer Services, Jennifer Comalie.
Mayor Joseph Uapingene emphasised that the approved budget serves as evidence of the city’s growth.
In light of the challenges faced by the city, various interventions were identified to address constraints during the last quarter.
Uapingene said the primary focus of the 2023/24 budget is on enhancing service delivery efficiency, with the capital budget prioritising infrastructure maintenance and additional infrastructure in the areas of water and electricity.
The budget also includes significant allocations to ensure the fulfilment of land delivery and Council housing objectives.
The proposed capital expenditure budget, totalling N$513 million, received approval, with N$507 million allocated towards infrastructure and housing projects.
He said despite the challenges posed by a high inflation rate, the city has made efforts to limit the financial impact on residents by keeping tariff increases in line with the previous year.
“We have tried to limit the financial impact on residents and kept the tariff increases in line with the previous year, despite the high inflation rate during the current year. In addition, we have maintained our biggest cost, which is salaries, at the same levels as the prior year, to ensure that the growth in revenue leads to a financially sustainable city,” said Uapingene
Furthermore, Comalie said the City also maintained salary levels at the same rates as the prior year to ensure that revenue growth leads to financial sustainability.
“We have not had salary increases in the past three years,” she said.
Uapingene expressed concern about the alarmingly slow rate of execution against the budget, further exacerbated by cash flow constraints.
However, he expressed optimism for the upcoming financial year and stated that the city is exploring SMART City and SMART ICT solutions to enhance revenue collection efforts and improve service delivery.
“Furthermore, I am concerned about the alarmingly slow rate of execution against our budget which was further exacerbated by the cash flow constraints, however, I believe this financial year will be different,” said Uapingene.
The mayor also announced that the city Finance Department is considering measures to address its existing debt, which stands at N$1.2 billion as of October 31, 2023, with N$963 million in arrears.
“The exercise seeks to identify the long outstanding debts that are assessed as not collectable. Thereafter recommendations for the appropriate measures to clear the debt will be made, one of which is to consider incentives that encourage residents to pay their debts and thereby relieve the city and residents of the current debt, said Uapingene.
Furthermore, Comalie disclosed that salaries account for 32 per cent of the city’s expenses, amounting to N$1.5 billion. Electricity expenses make up 37 percent (N$1.8 billion), water 11 percent (N$527 million), rates and maintenance 5 percent (N$234 million), while other expenses constitute 15 percent (N$706 million).
Comalie said City police salaries represent a significant portion of the budget, costing the city about N$300 million.
While City Police Chief Leevi Ileka, revealed a shortage of personnel, with between 130 and 140 vacancies.
However, Mayor Uapingene stated that the city is actively exploring technology and various smart city options to address the challenges while reducing salary costs.
“There are vacancies within the city however because we are trying to cut salary cost we are trying to explore more on technology and various smart city options,” he said
