The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, James Sankwasa, has described the administration of the Ruacana Town Council as "chaotic" and has ordered an urgent investigation into its financial and operational affairs.
Sankwasa was speaking after a closed-door meeting with the Ruacana Town Council and the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority on Friday.
He stated that the financial records, human resource management, and procurement at the council cannot be properly accounted for.”
"Regarding the issue of governance and administration within the local authority, I can simply say that it is currently chaotic. We could not resolve many of the issues because the financial management records are in disarray. Human resource management is also not properly accounted for, as well as procurement processes, and as a Ministry, we must urgently appoint an investigating committee for the affairs of the Town Council."
The meeting also addressed a long-standing boundary dispute between the council and the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority.
The traditional authority alleges it was not consulted when the town boundary was extended in 2013.
Sankwasa further noted that the law requires local authorities to consult traditional authorities before any boundary extension.
“The traditional authority must be consulted by the urban local authority whenever an extension is required. It is not an arbitrary exercise. Where there is a need to extend the boundary, the local authority must approach the traditional authority and state the reasons for the proposed extension—whether it is for economic reasons or because the available land is becoming insufficient due to population growth. Such documentation has not been provided to me, and, therefore, we could not proceed further with the matter. We postponed the issue to the next meeting. However, I have requested the local authority to provide me with all the necessary documents they have by next Wednesday.”
The Minister said internal auditors will be used for the probe, and if they lack capacity, another method will be found.
He further directed that the council must urgently make a resolution on how to deal with staff members involved in the mismanagement.