By Hileni Nembwaya
Copyright namibian
Ondangwa Town Council chief executive Ismael Namugongo’s salary has not received ministerial approval.
This is according to urban and rural development James Sankwasa during his visit to the council last Thursday where he grilled council members for raising the chief executive’s salary without ministerial approval. He also questioned the council’s obscene salaries while the town remained “unattractive and dirty” with litter and trash scattered everywhere.
“One of the issues highlighted in the auditor’s report is the salary of the chief executive the town is paying. So I wanted to know if you have received this report and what have you done about it? What were the reasons that the council decided to overrule the minister. The law is clear that the minister has to determine the increment of the chief executive’s salary. Can I get an answer on that?” he asked.
Sankwasa said the chief executive earns far more per annum than the chief executives of Oshakati and Ongwediva, adding that a smaller town like Ondangwa cannot earn more than that of Oshakati.
TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE
The minister also questioned the council and management for implementing and increasing its own travel and subsistence allowance rate despite a directive from the minister advising against these implementations.
“You went ahead and implemented your own travel and subsistence allowance rate. This one I will not condone. It has to come down. It has to stop now. You have to make a new application and state reasons why you did what you did. You don’t claim what you want, you claim for what is approved,” he said.
He said the Ondangwa Town Council had violated the Local Authority Act by implementing its own travel and subsistence allowance.
Sankwasa strongly advised the council and management to adhere to the government’s directive and laws.
Ondangwa Town Council deputy mayor Mweneni Awala says the council was left with no option but to hike the chief executive’s salary after learning that he was offered a deputy executive position in a government ministry.
“We did not want to let go of our chief executive, hence we decided to increase his salary. We consulted Ongwediva and Oshakati Town Council for further advice and to allow us how to determine how much their chief executives were earning before we made the final decision. We have also written to the former minister for approval but he did not respond,” she says.
Namugongo opted to not comment as he did not approve his own salary structure.
A number of residents upon learning of the matter critised the town council for rendering ineffective services, citing that the officials are more concerned about their high lifestyles rather than providing effective services to the residents.
