Private Watchdogs for Good Governance

SALOM SHILONGO WRITES:

Everyone knows that corruption is very rampant in Namibia. We pretend to be fighting it. But it is just getting worse. And it seems we are not serious about fighting corruption.

For example, some have proposed an amendment to the laws that allowed the Fishrot to take place. But we have to ask ourselves, is the law the problem, or the people that were supposed to implement the law are the problem?

If someone is stealing from his employer, would you fire the person or change the law? So, if the law is good, then you just fire the (corrupt) person and keep the law.

You can change the law, but you can’t change the mind-set of the people. The country has been corrupted. So, how do we stop this madness?



REVIEW, RESTRUCTURE

We need to review, reform, regrade and restructure the government, the local authorities, the regional councils and the State Owned Enterprises. And then we have to hire private watchdogs/supervisors to oversee the day to day operation of the government ministries, the State Owned Enterprises, the local authorities, as well as the regional councils.

The private watchdogs should be given a mandate to scrutinise the finances of the entities that they would be supervising, to avoid the misuse or mismanagement of resources. Private watchdogs must be given the mandate to stop unnecessary expenditures.

For example, private watchdogs must approve or disapprove any expenditure with regards to the entity that they will be supervising. The private watchdogs will not necessarily take over the day to day operation of the entity that they would be supervising, but they would just act as "watchmen".

Hiring private watchdogs could improve service delivery. Due to the reason that private watchdogs had to make sure that the people are performing their duties, arriving on time, and so on.



WARNINGS

Private watchdogs must be given the mandate to give warnings and recommend the dismissal of incompetent employees of the entities that they would be supervising. They must also be given the mandate to request the financial or bank statement of the entity that they are supervising.

Private watchdogs have to oversee how the money is being used in order to make sure that the money is not being misused. So, they are just going to work like government appointed "watchmen".

If there is an interview or vacancy, first the private watchdogs must be consulted, to see if there is really a need for a new recruitment. During interviews, private watchdogs must be present to make sure that the best candidate gets the job.

If there is a tender, the private watchdogs must be consulted, and during the selection process the private supervisors must be present as well. If the tender is inflated, the private watchdog must be given a mandate to stop it.



STOP WASTAGE

We can use companies such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and so on, to act as private watchdogs.

If we choose competent private companies to act as private watchdogs, it will definitely work and curb corruption. Provided that they are given the mandate to stop the wastage of public resources such as inflated tenders, unnecessary overtime or traveling for S&Ts and so on.

Using private watchdogs would cause competition between the supervisor and the one who is being supervised. If you are a watchdog, then you would have to be serious with your job because you might lose the contract if you are not performing. And if you are the one who is being supervised, then you would have to do your job very well as well. Private watchdogs can work as school or hospital supervisors and so on.

One might ask; where are we going to get the money to pay the private watchdogs? First of all, it is not really going to cost a lot of money to hire private watchdogs. And it will be a self-sustainable project. For example, the government, the local authorities and the State Owned Enterprises are going to save a lot of money. Because it will stop the wastage of public resources. Therefore, the State-Owned Enterprises are going to make good profit and give good dividends to the government.

The City Windhoek would need less than 50 people to act as private watchdogs. So, it will not really cost a lot of money. However, private watchdogs should not be seen as saints. Because any person could be corrupted. But if the private watchdog is corrupt or incompetent, then it can be replaced.

The best way to fight corruption is to make it difficult for people to commit corruption. Therefore, private watchdogs would make it very difficult for people to commit corruption.



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