{"id":27257,"date":"2022-08-10T17:08:24","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T17:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money"},"modified":"2022-08-10T17:25:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T17:25:57","slug":"uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money","title":{"rendered":"Uutoni blasts regional councils for sitting on money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>MINISTER of urban and rural development Erastus Uutoni has told regional councils to stop ‘sitting’ on funds meant for rural development, while rural communities languish in poverty.<\/b><\/p>\n

The minister was speaking at the opening of the five-day 2022 Rural Development Planning and Review Workshop, which started at Rundu on Monday.<\/p>\n

The week-long workshop is expected to end on Friday.<\/p>\n

Uutoni said he has come across regional councils with money in their accounts for the sole purpose of rural development from the previous financial year, but which has never used these funds for their intended purpose.<\/p>\n

The same regional councils, however, still request the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to make funds for certain projects available, he said.<\/p>\n

Uutoni said these funds could be used by other institutions, such as the local authorities which are trapped financially or faced with challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disheartening to hear funds allocated for poverty eradication and employment creation projects in rural areas are either misused or utilised in bank accounts, while the target rural communities are languishing in poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis should not be allowed. I thus call on the responsible units in the ministry and the political leadership in the regions to do everything possible to accelerate and ensure the timely execution and implementation of the rural development budget and projects. We must at all times ensure full accountability,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n

He urged regional councils to adhere to guidelines laid down for the selection of beneficiaries and the utilisation of rural development funds, as well as to submit accountability reports promptly.<\/p>\n

He said there is a need for regional councils to align and coordinate their activities to avoid duplication and the wasting of resources, investment in rural infrastructure, community-based enterprises, food and nutrition, as well as environmental protection, which are critical for sustainable rural development.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I recognise and applaud us as role players in rural development for the effort we are making and the progress we have made towards uplifting the livelihoods of our fellow countrymen and women in rural areas, the reality is that the urban-rural divide and rural poverty still exist, and we therefore need to do more to address this status quo,\u201d Uutoni said.<\/p>\n

Beyond meeting the basic needs of rural communities, the minister said rural development interventions must be aimed at optimising the potential, productivity and income-generating capacities of rural areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my view that rural livelihoods can be greatly enhanced through effective participation of rural people and communities in the management of their own social, economic and environmental objectives, and by empowering them, especially the youth and women, and by applying a bottom-up approach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The five-day workshop will discuss the implementation of rural development initiatives by regional councils, and rural sanitation.<\/p>\n

In contrast regional heads are expected to give presentations on ongoing projects, challenges, corrective measures and future plans.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. MINISTER of urban and rural development Erastus Uutoni has told regional councils to stop ‘sitting’ on funds meant for rural development, while rural communities languish in poverty. The minister was speaking at the opening of the five-day 2022 Rural Development Planning and Review Workshop, which started at Rundu on Monday. The week-long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-27257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nUutoni blasts regional councils for sitting on money - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MINISTER of urban and rural development Erastus Uutoni has told regional councils to stop 'sitting' on funds meant fo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Uutoni blasts regional councils for sitting on money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MINISTER of urban and rural development Erastus Uutoni has told regional councils to stop 'sitting' on funds meant fo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-10T17:08:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-10T17:25:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_6-62f3ea1344553.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Uutoni blasts regional councils for sitting on money\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-10T17:08:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-10T17:25:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money\"},\"wordCount\":494,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_6-62f3ea1344553.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/uutoni-blasts-regional-councils-for-sitting-on-money\",\"name\":\"Uutoni blasts regional councils for sitting on money - 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