Members of the National Council revealed troubling concerns at the Mangetti Cattle Range run by the Namibia Industrial Development Agency (NIDA) during a recent parliamentary hearing.
Councillor Johannes Karondo brought to light several operational challenges at the Mangetti Cattle Range.
"People are given the position of supervisors, but yet they get the same salary as a person who is said to be a cattle herder at the same post. But yet, you are a supervisor, and you are getting N$3,180 across, while the senior managers, or rather, the managers, are getting around N$25,000."
It came to light that promises made by NIDA regarding danger allowances for cattle herders in Kavango West have been unfulfilled.
MP John Likando demanded urgent intervention in NIDA's governance practices.
"For me as a member of parliament, I am also getting doubt in the entire board itself. Thousands are dying every day, so even for those of us who have 20 cattle, the moment they exceed 50, you'll need another cattle herder to swap. What we are receiving is even animal cruelty because livestock are not taken care of, and both decisions are taking place in Windhoek."
Bethuel Tjaveondja added a note of scepticism, questioning the credentials of NIDA's appointees, especially those only in possession of certificates with experience.
George !Garab and Mumbali Lukaezi highlighted structural flaws within NIDA's governance framework.
"When we ask critical questions, we are not getting answers. We are told that the answer might be provided by public enterprises, and certain answers we gave might be provided by the Ministry of Trade. We also observe that the officials of their trade and those of NIDA are not communicating properly," said !Garab, while Lukaezi contributed that "it's just this vacuum that we need to know whom to ask. You go to this one, and he says it's this one. So we are pushing around. Maybe the stakeholders involved need to engage each other."
With many cattle reportedly dying daily and operational inefficiencies rampant, urgent interventions are required to restore order and ensure sustainable management of the business.