The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, James Sankwasa, has proposed amendments to the Regional Councils Act to help improve the work of regional councils and address bad human resource systems, excessive political control, and slow decision-making.

Sankwasa explained that currently political bodies have too much power when it comes to the management of the staff and decision-making.

This, he said, causes unfair treatment and delays, explaining that the proposed amendments will address all these issues.

"The Regional Councils Act in its current form vests most, if not all, powers or authority pertaining to human resources administration in the Council, which is the political body. Therefore, a situation where powers and authority over administrative functions such as staff appointments and discipline vest in a political body presents challenges, as it creates room for administrative processes to be subjected to undue political influence or being politicized."

He said the Regional Councils Act of 1992 needs to be on par with Article 110 of the Namibian Constitution.

This will also include better rules for hiring staff, handling acting positions, and fair disciplinary actions.

Sankwasa says some outdated parts of the Public Service Act of 1980 that are still being used are causing problems for regional councils.

Once passed, Sankwasa said the law will push regional councils to work more closely with local development committees.

Other proposals include doing away with obsolete laws that no longer help and making sure senior staff are not skipped over when temporary positions are filled.