EDITORIAL: Clampdown on SOEs needed
As the curtain between the Namibia Students Financial Aid Fund (NSFAF) and its former boss Hilya Nghiwete came down in the Supreme Court last week, it is now time that we turn our attention to the governance flaws that exist within parastatals.
It is clear that for far too long, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been left to their own devices, while costing taxpayers billions in bailouts.
Until such a time that we start holding SOE executives personally liable for expenses incurred during legal disputes, we will continue seeing millions spent on legal fees in cases that are merely aimed at satisfying personal egos instead of the needs of the institution.
The public enterprises ministry also needs to come up with guidelines regarding expenditure on legal services. The use of private legal services while there are avenues to make use of government attorneys must be clamped down on in order to save costs.
In 2018, the public enterprises ministry indicated that SOEs milked a whopping N$3.5 billion from treasury in terms of bailouts for the 2017/18 financial year, while government guarantees for public enterprises stood at N$8.8 billion for the same period.
The exposure of taxpayers when it comes to bailing out SOEs is reason enough for the government to pay closer attention to the operations of these entities.
It is clear that for far too long, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been left to their own devices, while costing taxpayers billions in bailouts.
Until such a time that we start holding SOE executives personally liable for expenses incurred during legal disputes, we will continue seeing millions spent on legal fees in cases that are merely aimed at satisfying personal egos instead of the needs of the institution.
The public enterprises ministry also needs to come up with guidelines regarding expenditure on legal services. The use of private legal services while there are avenues to make use of government attorneys must be clamped down on in order to save costs.
In 2018, the public enterprises ministry indicated that SOEs milked a whopping N$3.5 billion from treasury in terms of bailouts for the 2017/18 financial year, while government guarantees for public enterprises stood at N$8.8 billion for the same period.
The exposure of taxpayers when it comes to bailing out SOEs is reason enough for the government to pay closer attention to the operations of these entities.
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Namibian Sun
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