Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare says the delay in salary payments to public servants in the Kunene Region was caused by a technical administrative issue and should not be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to disadvantage anyone.
Dr Ngurare was responding to PDM Leader McHenry Venaani, who said Urban and Rural Development Minister James Sankwasa had halted public servants’ salaries because of disputes with the Kunene Region’s Chief Regional Officer.
Speaking in the National Assembly, the PDM leader alleged that the non-payment of salaries was a deliberate move to frustrate PDM and UDF members.
“For the first time in the history of this country, in the history of governance under Hon. Sankwasa, salaries are being stopped, listen very carefully, salaries of employees in the whole region, because he has a dispute with one senior officer, the Chief Regional Officer of the Kunene Region. Where does your administration, where does your government, get the legal mandate to stop someone’s salary because you have a problem with someone’s appointment?” Venaani said.
Dr Ngurare said the concern arose because the official responsible for authorising salary payments was no longer in a position to do so and had requested that another authorised official be designated to facilitate the payment process.
He said the Chairperson of the Kunene Regional Council wrote to his office stating that the necessary authorisation for another person to sign and approve the payments could not be provided in time.
“It’s a technicality which shouldn’t have happened, Honourable Speaker. So it shouldn’t, therefore, be seen as some deliberate machinations in order for PDM and UDF to be disadvantaged. I am here to assure you this matter is receiving the highest consideration, and it will be resolved in the shortest period possible,” said Dr Ngurare.
The Prime Minister assured the House that PDM and UDF members are “our brothers and sisters”.
“In fact, you would agree that a great deal of investment has gone into Kunene, regardless of whether or not PDM is there. And we can go on and on, whether it is roads, water, agriculture, and all manner of things. That is because we remain committed to one Namibia, one nation, including Kunene,” he said.