Sankwasa sets August deadline for councils to recover debts owed by Govt

By: Envaalde Matheus

Urban and rural development minister, James Sankwasa, has given all local authorities until the end of August to implement a directive requiring them to recover outstanding debts owed by government institutions and major businesses.

He has warned that action may be taken against non-compliant local authority leaders, while also calling on political parties to ensure their councillors deliver on service obligations.

Sankwasa has raised concern over weak compliance with ministerial directives, revealing that only five local authorities have responded to requests for information on COVID-19-era municipal debts.

He says councils are now expected to implement his directive to recover outstanding debts, including suspending service against government institutions and major businesses that fail to pay.

Sankwasa said he is satisfied with the response by the City of Windhoek as an example, saying it recovered N$10 million from a single government ministry after acting on the directive.

He said local authorities cannot continue blaming poor service delivery on lack of funds while failing to collect money owed to them.

Political analyst Henning Melber says many councillors enter local politics driven by income and benefits rather than service delivery, arguing that politics has become a “corrupt power game” driven by personal gain rather than public service.

The post Sankwasa sets August deadline for councils to recover debts owed by Govt appeared first on Future Media News.