Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Ministry of Public Enterprises will dissolve and be transformed into a Department of Public Enterprises, which will fall under the Ministry of Finance. This was recently announced in a statement issued by Minister of Public Enterprises, Leon Jooste.
The move follows a recommendation by the high-level panel on the Namibian Economy (HLPNE), appointed by President Hage Geingob, for this ministry to be phased out.
Jooste said shareholder functions will be greatly enhanced when the shareholder powers and budgetary functions are consolidated under the finance ministry since they will then have direct oversight into the financial and operational performance, and subsidies can then be more accurately aligned to compliance and performance.
“This will also allow for the Ministry of Finance to take control of and be directly involved in the process leading to the establishment of the Holding Company, thereby creating critical, institutional memory of the actual details of the process,” Jooste said.
The Public Enterprise Holding Company is expected to be established within the next three years. He noted that consolidation and streamlining of operational processes will inevitably result in substantial cost savings since a separate ministry will no longer have to be maintained.
“Experience has shown that most of the issues encountered at Public Enterprises that warrant the intervention of the shareholder, inevitably have a financial implication,” he said.
According to Jooste, these matters consequently require the consistent attention of the Minister of Finance, and many times end up on the agenda of the Cabinet Committee on Treasury (CCT).
“I am entirely convinced that this decision is in the best interest of the nation and the government, and that no momentum will be lost in our collective quest to transform the Namibian Public Enterprises,” he said.
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