EDITORIAL: Finalise govt asset register
The absence of a comprehensive asset register that contains information about all government property is a crisis of epic proportions.
Many in government have over the years downplayed the importance of such a database without really knowing the real impact it has on our country.
One cannot deny the fact that you cannot plan properly if you do not know what you own. Equally, the absence of such crucial information means you cannot leverage any benefits from your assets in order to better manage your day-to-day affairs.
For years, government assets have been scattered all over the place with no one to hold accountable. This seemingly created fertile ground for well-connected individuals in the private and public sectors to get their hands on these assets in order to line their pockets.
He might have been a bit extreme, but Popular Democratic Movement’s (PDM's) president McHenry Venaani's recent sentiments that the absence of an asset register enables looting should not be taken lightly.
We have seen how assets belonging to parastatals such as Roads Contractor Company and TransNamib have over the years landed in private hands without due processes being followed. This is also why you see government houses in affluent suburbs being sold to civil servants way below market value.
It is our hope that the legislature holds the executive branch to account and compels them to finalise the register and subsequently make it available for public scrutiny.
Many in government have over the years downplayed the importance of such a database without really knowing the real impact it has on our country.
One cannot deny the fact that you cannot plan properly if you do not know what you own. Equally, the absence of such crucial information means you cannot leverage any benefits from your assets in order to better manage your day-to-day affairs.
For years, government assets have been scattered all over the place with no one to hold accountable. This seemingly created fertile ground for well-connected individuals in the private and public sectors to get their hands on these assets in order to line their pockets.
He might have been a bit extreme, but Popular Democratic Movement’s (PDM's) president McHenry Venaani's recent sentiments that the absence of an asset register enables looting should not be taken lightly.
We have seen how assets belonging to parastatals such as Roads Contractor Company and TransNamib have over the years landed in private hands without due processes being followed. This is also why you see government houses in affluent suburbs being sold to civil servants way below market value.
It is our hope that the legislature holds the executive branch to account and compels them to finalise the register and subsequently make it available for public scrutiny.
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