Africa-Press – Namibia. Swapo National Assembly member Austin Samupwa says the reallocation of budgeted funds should not be done to address the inefficiencies and poor planning of ministries.
He says the low execution rate of capital projects should serve as a warning to the finance ministry to ensure it deploys mechanisms that will ensure every dollar is accounted for.
Samupwa said this on Tuesday, while contributing to a discussion of the mid-year budget review tabled by minister of finance Ericah Shafudah last week.
“We have taken note that the execution rate of the development budget, which is a concern, stands at 28%, which is very low at this time of the financial year” Samupwa said.
“If you take a few examples from the sectors that received the highest allocation in the budget, such as transport which has only executed 37% to date, Ministry of Urban and Rural Development only executed 33%, education 18%, and water and maritime only 7%,” he said.Samupwa proposed that the finance ministry strengthen monitoring mechanisms to ensure funds allocated in the additional budget sectors are efficiently used.
He said line ministries should provide progress reports to parliament on capital projects for the financial year 2025/26.
He said greater emphasis must be placed on capital projects to diversify the economy to reduce recurrence of expenditure.
Samupwa also proposed that the recruitment of more than 2000 teachers and health workers combined must not be relegated to next year but be done urgently this year. He said once the budget has been passed, recruitment must begin immediately.
Samupwa noted that the budget represents responsibility and opportunity to provide much-needed relief, but it also demands accountability, discipline and impact.
Affirmative Repositioning parliamentarian Fredrick Shitana raised concerns on revenue collection currently standing at 40% since September, citing administrative revenue inefficiencies.
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