The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Cletius Karondo, says that funds allocated to some capital projects are not used for the intended projects.

Karondo made the remarks at Katima Mulilo, where the Committee assessed the existing planned capital projects and those under construction.

Karondo says that after getting clear pictures of the progress on the ground, the National Assembly will be able to advise the responsible ministries and agencies on what should be done moving forward.

The engineer at the Zambezi Regional Council, Makongwa Mutero, noted that it is a challenge to have projects in the region being managed from Windhoek without consulting the regional leadership and concerned staff members.

Mutero says even when the Katima Mulilo Magistrates court site was handed over, no one in the region was consulted or informed.

Katima Mulilo Principal Magistrate, Malilo Mwilima, also raised concern that despite the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary Office operating from the same building, they have separate budgets going into the same pot.

In response, Sylvester Kamwi from the National Planning Commission (NPC) explained that, given the challenge, the NPC has written to the Ministry of Justice for the separation of the two votes in terms of appropriation.

Kamwi observed that, based on coordination between national and regional offices, the challenges were found to be national and not unique to the Zambezi Region, creating a stumbling block in the implementation of capital projects.