Showing posts with label Swartbooi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swartbooi. Show all posts
Friday, May 18, 2012
Some Leaders Already At Work
MOST businesses and Government offices are slowly coming to life and Cabinet should be up and running by the last week of January.
What’s interesting is that many of the ministries and crucial institutions operated on ‘auto-pilot’ throughout December – a time when offices are quiet and which can be best utilised to plan and strategise for the new year.
Of course many will argue that they also need to rest, plough their mahangu fields or be with their families over that period.
I am impressed by how the two gentlemen at the Ministry of Education spent their December.
Both Minister Abraham Iyambo and his deputy David Namwandi crisscrossed the country, meeting personnel and planning for the 2011 school year.
Their aim was not only to avert chaos on the first day at school, but also to motivate staff and look at ways to ultimately improve the school results.
Last year’s grade 10 results have already given a glimpse of hope for the future. It was the best since we started with the Cambridge system and it all boiled down to motivation of the staff.
One of the trademarks of a good leader is the authority to mobilise commitment from others supporting you. The two seemed to have ignited some fire of hope among teachers and supporting staff of the ministry – albeit not all.
Media, especially NBC reports, over the holiday period also seemed to indicate that new Karas governor Clinton Swartbooi hit the ground running.
He had meetings with traditional leaders, regional political leaders, community leaders and the ordinary people from the street where he clearly spelled out his vision for the region for the next five years.
Those who studied leadership will tell you that the difference between it and management is that leaders provide vision and influence for others to realise that vision.
While Swartbooi got off to a flying start, he needs to know how to tend and deploy some of the power that came with his position.
He has done well to give directed attention to some of the crucial issues which bedevil Karas, such as unemployment, alcoholism and late-night street roaming.
The strategy seemed to be that of mentioning his concerns about the issues first, gauging the reaction of the community and following up with clearcut instructions such as that of enforcing the law with regards to shebeens.
But he needs to engage the voices of fellow regional politicians and community leadership to avoid burning out and being isolated in his pursuit for better living conditions for the people of Karas.
Already some political and economic forces are at play to undermine his authority because by, for instance, closing shebeens at certain times he has cut the income of the owners. It is a known fact that some of the shebeen owners have political influence and could encourage their followers from cooperating with him.
While the above three gentlemen were hard at work, many of the new governors as well as ministers were missing in action.
The only news item I observed of one of the new governors, veteran politician Joshua //Hoëbeb, was a public welcome party Swapo held for him at Outjo and it sent a chill up my spine.
Here he is appointed by the President in an opposition-dominated region and the first thing he does is to appear at a welcoming party held by Swapo. It immediately causes unnecessary division and tension.
I have no problem with him attending his party’s functions but his actions might be seen as replicating what his predecessor was accused of – allegedly working only in the interest of one group. It is, however, too early to judge //Hoëbeb.
As for the rest of the governors and ministers, they better come back with very clear strategies. The people have observed the actions of Iyambo and Swartbooi. Surely they will want their leaders to be in the same league.
Monday, June 13, 2011
SPYL Need To Start Own Succession Debate
RECENTLY the Swapo Party Youth League announced that it had put a lid on the Swapo presidential succession debate. It was not necessarily a good thing but it has created the time and space to debate their own succession.
Instead of fighting among themselves over who should be the Swapo presidential candidate, members of the youth wing need to take time out to critically look at their own destiny and who they want to lead them for the next five years.
That is why it was a bit shocking to also read about the amount of effort and resources used in the attempt to oust incumbent secretary, Elijah Ngurare.
Ngurare’s term is about to run out and the time and resources used to oust him could be better spent on debating the qualities they need in the next individual to head the organisation.
And such debates should be open and not clandestine evening meetings as has been with their seniors – some of whom have reportedly been sponsoring drinks for the youth.
Isn’t it what the youth wished for the presidential race? Now they need to set the example on an open intra-party debate over succession for the elders!
The youth wing are not short of firebrands and starting a debate as early as now will afford many followers the chance to critically think about their choices.
I am told that there is a school of thought among the youth that the secretary should be elected from the SPYL central committee but glancing through their constitution, I got the impression that it could be anyone who attends the congress.
Whichever it may be, I decided to throw a few names into the hat, mindful of the fact that “he or she shall not be more than 45 years of age”, as their constitution stipulates.
Chief among them is a young but well-educated leader in Lucia Ipumbu. She is popular among the youth but very media-shy although her master degree in economics could be of good benefit for the youth wing.
Her advantage is that she is a woman but so is the current deputy secretary Jutta Shikomba, who will probably also try her luck for the second time running after she could not beat Ngurare in the last one.
Shikomba is a teacher by profession and spent the past four years or more in the youth league’s inner circle as well as at the party’s head office. Having come across her several times, I would opt for Ipumbu rather than her if the gender card comes into play.
But the race will not be a race if it does not have Veikko Nekundi in it.
A strictly business-minded young man, who does not mince his words (even if sometimes it gets him into costly trouble like it did with Veiccoh Nghiwete of Foreign Affairs), he will suit the one quality SPYL constitution calls for in a secretary. That is the establishment and development of the wings’ enterprises and ventures.
But than one could also include Sacky Shanghala in that mix. The young man does not hide his love for money and last year remarked in an interview with The Namibian that politics and economics are bedfellows and cannot be separated from each other.
“If I would go into business I would host politicians and play golf with them and sponsor them – that is what a businessman does,” Shanghala said then.
What is sure about him is that he is a go-getter but whether the Black Economic Empowerment beneficiary will have enough time or be willing to leave his lucrative job and perks for the head office is not sure.
Another, perhaps an outside horse or two worth mentioning are Henny Seibeb, personal assistant to Swapo secretary general Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, as well as National Youth Council head Mandela Kapere and SPYL’s Swakopmund district secretary Sioni Iikela.
Kapere will probably prefer to stay at NYC from where he serves the youth on several boards and is relatively at ease with life but Seibeb and Iikela could welcome the challenge.
Seibeb is already in the party structures and head office and will only move offices, while for Iikela it could be a move too soon. In his case, a deputy position will probably be best.
Perhaps one very good candidate would have been Clinton Swartbooi but he has leap-frogged the position with his presidential appointment as governor of Karas.
The above list is by no means the only names SPYL needs to look at.
I have merely tried to kick-start the debate with the hope that the youth of Swapo will start to put a workable succession plan in place. It’s over to them now!
Instead of fighting among themselves over who should be the Swapo presidential candidate, members of the youth wing need to take time out to critically look at their own destiny and who they want to lead them for the next five years.
That is why it was a bit shocking to also read about the amount of effort and resources used in the attempt to oust incumbent secretary, Elijah Ngurare.
Ngurare’s term is about to run out and the time and resources used to oust him could be better spent on debating the qualities they need in the next individual to head the organisation.
And such debates should be open and not clandestine evening meetings as has been with their seniors – some of whom have reportedly been sponsoring drinks for the youth.
Isn’t it what the youth wished for the presidential race? Now they need to set the example on an open intra-party debate over succession for the elders!
The youth wing are not short of firebrands and starting a debate as early as now will afford many followers the chance to critically think about their choices.
I am told that there is a school of thought among the youth that the secretary should be elected from the SPYL central committee but glancing through their constitution, I got the impression that it could be anyone who attends the congress.
Whichever it may be, I decided to throw a few names into the hat, mindful of the fact that “he or she shall not be more than 45 years of age”, as their constitution stipulates.
Chief among them is a young but well-educated leader in Lucia Ipumbu. She is popular among the youth but very media-shy although her master degree in economics could be of good benefit for the youth wing.
Her advantage is that she is a woman but so is the current deputy secretary Jutta Shikomba, who will probably also try her luck for the second time running after she could not beat Ngurare in the last one.
Shikomba is a teacher by profession and spent the past four years or more in the youth league’s inner circle as well as at the party’s head office. Having come across her several times, I would opt for Ipumbu rather than her if the gender card comes into play.
But the race will not be a race if it does not have Veikko Nekundi in it.
A strictly business-minded young man, who does not mince his words (even if sometimes it gets him into costly trouble like it did with Veiccoh Nghiwete of Foreign Affairs), he will suit the one quality SPYL constitution calls for in a secretary. That is the establishment and development of the wings’ enterprises and ventures.
But than one could also include Sacky Shanghala in that mix. The young man does not hide his love for money and last year remarked in an interview with The Namibian that politics and economics are bedfellows and cannot be separated from each other.
“If I would go into business I would host politicians and play golf with them and sponsor them – that is what a businessman does,” Shanghala said then.
What is sure about him is that he is a go-getter but whether the Black Economic Empowerment beneficiary will have enough time or be willing to leave his lucrative job and perks for the head office is not sure.
Another, perhaps an outside horse or two worth mentioning are Henny Seibeb, personal assistant to Swapo secretary general Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, as well as National Youth Council head Mandela Kapere and SPYL’s Swakopmund district secretary Sioni Iikela.
Kapere will probably prefer to stay at NYC from where he serves the youth on several boards and is relatively at ease with life but Seibeb and Iikela could welcome the challenge.
Seibeb is already in the party structures and head office and will only move offices, while for Iikela it could be a move too soon. In his case, a deputy position will probably be best.
Perhaps one very good candidate would have been Clinton Swartbooi but he has leap-frogged the position with his presidential appointment as governor of Karas.
The above list is by no means the only names SPYL needs to look at.
I have merely tried to kick-start the debate with the hope that the youth of Swapo will start to put a workable succession plan in place. It’s over to them now!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Parastatals are no milk cows
AS I alluded to in an earlier column, President Hifikepunye Pohamba needs to leave a mark with his second term and it will do wonders for his efforts if he takes time to give serious consideration to the (re)appointment of all parastatal boards before he departs with much fanfare in 2015.
Although I was initially opposed to the constitutional changes giving him powers to appoint regional governors, I have since become a reluctant supporter of the move after seeing what the young man in the Karas region, Clinton Swartbooi, has achieved in a relatively short time.
He has proven that, given the right appointments, some of the social dilemmas facing our people can change dramatically.
It is also the reason why I hope that some of the sleeping governors will have received infused fire in their bellies during the past week’s induction/workshop in Windhoek.
While the President is showing some true mettle he could also turn his attention to the parastatals or State-owned enterprises, SOEs as they are known.
This week Cabinet announced the names of those who will serve on the NamWater and Meatco boards - both very important parastatals in the country.
Parastatals have become milk cows for many in the past as has been frequently revealed in a number of financial scandals.
In many instances in the past, the knowledge, experience and expertise of people were almost not considered at all when appointing boards and this in turn affected their output negatively.
This was worsened by the fact that chief executives and managing directors were also handpicked based on their allegiances either to State House, certain ministers or other influential characters.
This ultimately affected production and, while some parastatals were supposed to pay dividends, Government kept on pumping money into their running costs.
This despite the fact that some heads of such parastatals were raking in millions through salaries, bonuses and other benefits.
Under Pohamba Government seems to have started intervening in the affairs of the SOEs for the right reasons.
Although many believe that the plan may backfire, Cabinet has already decided to restrain the excesses at parastatals through putting a cap on salaries and other perks.
This means that the Namibia Wildlife Resorts will no longer be able to pay its Managing Director N$1,7 million as it used to give Tobie Aupindi, and Air Namibia will be forced to reduce theirs to N$1,5 million from the N$2,4 million Kosmos Egumbo was reportedly collecting.
The Cabinet’s cap not only affects heads of parastatals but also their senior managers. Board directors are also not excluded.
We have had reports and stories about some directors who stay in Windhoek yet submit their residential addresses as their farms in order to claim travel allowances. Others would ensure they had long drawn-out meetings because they are paid hourly.
Perhaps to put a cap on the salaries is too simplistic a solution, because it implies that the massive losses to the parastatals can be ascribed to overpaid CEOs and boards but there is a combination of both very high salaries as well as board members who are not knowledgeable enough - and neither is acceptable.
So while President Pohamba is on a serious drive to leave State House with a bang, key to the changes he wishes to undertake will be the question of ‘jobs for comrades’ or ‘tested cadres’.
Although the Swapo Party Think-Tank is a matter for internal discussion, it should have, by now, given an indication of the level of knowledge and dedication of some of those serving on it.
I am not advocating for Cabinet to only recruit people who have served on the party Think-Tank but it can be used as a platform to test the dedication of the party cadres instead of throwing them into the lions’ den at parastatals and expecting them to deliver.
It is time for our parastatals to become revenue-generating institutions for the country. So far there are a few key exceptions which have known stable and consistent management and lack of interference, while most of them simply don’t get on with the job.
This despite the fact the board members take home thousands and the heads of parastatals continue operating with hardly any serious consequences if they fail to deliver.
Parastatals should stop being milk cows and President Pohamba remains the key to positive change in this regard.
Although I was initially opposed to the constitutional changes giving him powers to appoint regional governors, I have since become a reluctant supporter of the move after seeing what the young man in the Karas region, Clinton Swartbooi, has achieved in a relatively short time.
He has proven that, given the right appointments, some of the social dilemmas facing our people can change dramatically.
It is also the reason why I hope that some of the sleeping governors will have received infused fire in their bellies during the past week’s induction/workshop in Windhoek.
While the President is showing some true mettle he could also turn his attention to the parastatals or State-owned enterprises, SOEs as they are known.
This week Cabinet announced the names of those who will serve on the NamWater and Meatco boards - both very important parastatals in the country.
Parastatals have become milk cows for many in the past as has been frequently revealed in a number of financial scandals.
In many instances in the past, the knowledge, experience and expertise of people were almost not considered at all when appointing boards and this in turn affected their output negatively.
This was worsened by the fact that chief executives and managing directors were also handpicked based on their allegiances either to State House, certain ministers or other influential characters.
This ultimately affected production and, while some parastatals were supposed to pay dividends, Government kept on pumping money into their running costs.
This despite the fact that some heads of such parastatals were raking in millions through salaries, bonuses and other benefits.
Under Pohamba Government seems to have started intervening in the affairs of the SOEs for the right reasons.
Although many believe that the plan may backfire, Cabinet has already decided to restrain the excesses at parastatals through putting a cap on salaries and other perks.
This means that the Namibia Wildlife Resorts will no longer be able to pay its Managing Director N$1,7 million as it used to give Tobie Aupindi, and Air Namibia will be forced to reduce theirs to N$1,5 million from the N$2,4 million Kosmos Egumbo was reportedly collecting.
The Cabinet’s cap not only affects heads of parastatals but also their senior managers. Board directors are also not excluded.
We have had reports and stories about some directors who stay in Windhoek yet submit their residential addresses as their farms in order to claim travel allowances. Others would ensure they had long drawn-out meetings because they are paid hourly.
Perhaps to put a cap on the salaries is too simplistic a solution, because it implies that the massive losses to the parastatals can be ascribed to overpaid CEOs and boards but there is a combination of both very high salaries as well as board members who are not knowledgeable enough - and neither is acceptable.
So while President Pohamba is on a serious drive to leave State House with a bang, key to the changes he wishes to undertake will be the question of ‘jobs for comrades’ or ‘tested cadres’.
Although the Swapo Party Think-Tank is a matter for internal discussion, it should have, by now, given an indication of the level of knowledge and dedication of some of those serving on it.
I am not advocating for Cabinet to only recruit people who have served on the party Think-Tank but it can be used as a platform to test the dedication of the party cadres instead of throwing them into the lions’ den at parastatals and expecting them to deliver.
It is time for our parastatals to become revenue-generating institutions for the country. So far there are a few key exceptions which have known stable and consistent management and lack of interference, while most of them simply don’t get on with the job.
This despite the fact the board members take home thousands and the heads of parastatals continue operating with hardly any serious consequences if they fail to deliver.
Parastatals should stop being milk cows and President Pohamba remains the key to positive change in this regard.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Some Leaders Already At Work
MOST businesses and Government offices are slowly coming to life and Cabinet should be up and running by the last week of January.
What’s interesting is that many of the ministries and crucial institutions operated on ‘auto-pilot’ throughout December – a time when offices are quiet and which can be best utilised to plan and strategise for the new year.
Of course many will argue that they also need to rest, plough their mahangu fields or be with their families over that period.
I am impressed by how the two gentlemen at the Ministry of Education spent their December.
Both Minister Abraham Iyambo and his deputy David Namwandi crisscrossed the country, meeting personnel and planning for the 2011 school year.
Their aim was not only to avert chaos on the first day at school, but also to motivate staff and look at ways to ultimately improve the school results.
Last year’s grade 10 results have already given a glimpse of hope for the future. It was the best since we started with the Cambridge system and it all boiled down to motivation of the staff.
One of the trademarks of a good leader is the authority to mobilise commitment from others supporting you. The two seemed to have ignited some fire of hope among teachers and supporting staff of the ministry – albeit not all.
Media, especially NBC reports, over the holiday period also seemed to indicate that new Karas governor Clinton Swartbooi hit the ground running.
He had meetings with traditional leaders, regional political leaders, community leaders and the ordinary people from the street where he clearly spelled out his vision for the region for the next five years.
Those who studied leadership will tell you that the difference between it and management is that leaders provide vision and influence for others to realise that vision.
While Swartbooi got off to a flying start, he needs to know how to tend and deploy some of the power that came with his position.
He has done well to give directed attention to some of the crucial issues which bedevil Karas, such as unemployment, alcoholism and late-night street roaming.
The strategy seemed to be that of mentioning his concerns about the issues first, gauging the reaction of the community and following up with clearcut instructions such as that of enforcing the law with regards to shebeens.
But he needs to engage the voices of fellow regional politicians and community leadership to avoid burning out and being isolated in his pursuit for better living conditions for the people of Karas.
Already some political and economic forces are at play to undermine his authority because by, for instance, closing shebeens at certain times he has cut the income of the owners. It is a known fact that some of the shebeen owners have political influence and could encourage their followers from cooperating with him.
While the above three gentlemen were hard at work, many of the new governors as well as ministers were missing in action.
The only news item I observed of one of the new governors, veteran politician Joshua //Hoëbeb, was a public welcome party Swapo held for him at Outjo and it sent a chill up my spine.
Here he is appointed by the President in an opposition-dominated region and the first thing he does is to appear at a welcoming party held by Swapo. It immediately causes unnecessary division and tension.
I have no problem with him attending his party’s functions but his actions might be seen as replicating what his predecessor was accused of – allegedly working only in the interest of one group. It is, however, too early to judge //Hoëbeb.
As for the rest of the governors and ministers, they better come back with very clear strategies. The people have observed the actions of Iyambo and Swartbooi. Surely they will want their leaders to be in the same league.
What’s interesting is that many of the ministries and crucial institutions operated on ‘auto-pilot’ throughout December – a time when offices are quiet and which can be best utilised to plan and strategise for the new year.
Of course many will argue that they also need to rest, plough their mahangu fields or be with their families over that period.
I am impressed by how the two gentlemen at the Ministry of Education spent their December.
Both Minister Abraham Iyambo and his deputy David Namwandi crisscrossed the country, meeting personnel and planning for the 2011 school year.
Their aim was not only to avert chaos on the first day at school, but also to motivate staff and look at ways to ultimately improve the school results.
Last year’s grade 10 results have already given a glimpse of hope for the future. It was the best since we started with the Cambridge system and it all boiled down to motivation of the staff.
One of the trademarks of a good leader is the authority to mobilise commitment from others supporting you. The two seemed to have ignited some fire of hope among teachers and supporting staff of the ministry – albeit not all.
Media, especially NBC reports, over the holiday period also seemed to indicate that new Karas governor Clinton Swartbooi hit the ground running.
He had meetings with traditional leaders, regional political leaders, community leaders and the ordinary people from the street where he clearly spelled out his vision for the region for the next five years.
Those who studied leadership will tell you that the difference between it and management is that leaders provide vision and influence for others to realise that vision.
While Swartbooi got off to a flying start, he needs to know how to tend and deploy some of the power that came with his position.
He has done well to give directed attention to some of the crucial issues which bedevil Karas, such as unemployment, alcoholism and late-night street roaming.
The strategy seemed to be that of mentioning his concerns about the issues first, gauging the reaction of the community and following up with clearcut instructions such as that of enforcing the law with regards to shebeens.
But he needs to engage the voices of fellow regional politicians and community leadership to avoid burning out and being isolated in his pursuit for better living conditions for the people of Karas.
Already some political and economic forces are at play to undermine his authority because by, for instance, closing shebeens at certain times he has cut the income of the owners. It is a known fact that some of the shebeen owners have political influence and could encourage their followers from cooperating with him.
While the above three gentlemen were hard at work, many of the new governors as well as ministers were missing in action.
The only news item I observed of one of the new governors, veteran politician Joshua //Hoëbeb, was a public welcome party Swapo held for him at Outjo and it sent a chill up my spine.
Here he is appointed by the President in an opposition-dominated region and the first thing he does is to appear at a welcoming party held by Swapo. It immediately causes unnecessary division and tension.
I have no problem with him attending his party’s functions but his actions might be seen as replicating what his predecessor was accused of – allegedly working only in the interest of one group. It is, however, too early to judge //Hoëbeb.
As for the rest of the governors and ministers, they better come back with very clear strategies. The people have observed the actions of Iyambo and Swartbooi. Surely they will want their leaders to be in the same league.
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