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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
MOTIVATION OF APPROPRIATION VOTE 02 -
OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
2010/11 FINANCIAL YEAR
2010/11 - 2012/13 MEDIUM TERM PLAN

by
THE HON DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
28 April 2010

1. Cde. Chairperson of the Whole House Committee,

Honourable Members of the National Assembly, our
Constitution proclaims our democratic values, respect
for the rule of law, and justice for all. It is on this
basis that we are required to execute our activities.
With this in mind the Office of the Prime Minister
continued to interact with all stakeholders in all sectors
and various communities across the country.
Resources availed to the Office the previous financial
year, enabled the Office of the Prime Minister to
provide guidance and advice, on the implementation of
policies of the Government, and ensured that all
spheres-of our public domain remain healthy. The
themes of "inclusive development" and -the
"equallzatlon of opportunities" were always emphasized
-by the Office of Hon. Prime Minister. This has and will
_,continue to be the case, when carrying out projects for
. good governance, efficiency and effectiveness of public
institutions, or with regard to the development projects
for disadvantaged communities and vulnerable
persons.

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2. Major Policy Initiatives:

2.1 Let me highlight some of the major policy initiatives

and statements of the Prime Minister's Office for the
last financial year, which at the same time, are
reflective of its executive actions.

2.2 Recently, the Hon. Prime Minister tabled and motivated

the Bill for the establishment of the Namibia Institute
of Public Administration and Management ('NIPAM') to
provide for its administration, control of affairs and
regulation of its activities. NIPAM's draft policy
framework has also been published and launched. The
Institute will soon be inaugurated.

2.3 Another major activity has been the setting up of a

new and revised national policy to deal with national
disasters and emergencies. The office has adopted a
new approach, to provide for improved capacity for
early warning and for tracking, monitoring and
disseminating information on phenomena and activities
that trigger disaster events. This is the forerunner to
the tabling of a draft Bill, that is meant to provide the
nation with a legal tool to manage disaster risks and to
facilitate the traditional disaster response.

3. National and International Activities:

..
3.1 The launch of the Ohorongo Cement plant in
Otjoz'Ondjupa provided proof of the integrated
approaches and genuine partnerships identified in
'Vision 2030 as critical components of a strategic plan
:'for the industrialization of Namibia.

3.2 Hon. Prime Minister also motivated Namibia's need for

support to deal with the effects of climate .change at
the UN Summit in Copenhagen. Here Namibia
expressed its desire for concrete outcomes of the
Fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP1S), including for
the provision of support to Namibia, to establish early
warning systems on regional and local levels and most

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 of all, for resources that must contribute towards
poverty reduction efforts and mitigation of disasters as
a consequenceof climate change.
.•. '

4. With the launch of a revised Public Service Workplace

Policy on HIV and AIDS, the Office of the Prime
Minister reaffirmed its commitment to deal with this
pandemic as "one of the most challenging
developmental obstacles for Namibia".

5.' Other priority areas for the Office related to the

support given to the identi.fication of strategic priorities
in the revitalization of high education in the context of
relevancy, and for ongoing national efforts to improve
Namibia's ranking on the Global Competitiveness
Index. Another aspect highlighted was the
Government's grave concern about Gender Based
Violence (GBV).

6. At the Non-aligned Summit, Namibia highlighted how it

was affected by the international economic crisis. The
Hon. Prime Minister emphasized the importance of the
solidarity and mutual support among NAM countries, in
order to mitigate the effects of the crisis on our
peoples. He emphasised that indeed, South-South
Cooperation and triangular cooperation are now more
than ever before vital in order to effectively deal with
this world financial and economic crisis and its impact
on development.

7. These activities are, but some of the highlights at the

! broader national and international arena, which
occupied the Office of the Prime Minister over the last
financial year.

8. It would be remiss of me not to mention that despite a

year of full activities and programmes, the Office
expenditures level remained within budget, and is
expected to be about 93%.

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9. Cde. Chairperson of the Whole House Committee,
Honourable Members, I will now deal with the
programmes for the execution of various activities
provided for, under Vote 02 for 2010/11.

10. The strategic plan of the Office for the period 2009 to
2013, approved last year after several rounds of
consultations, drives the execution of our projects to
ensure that we will achieve the milestones of NDP3.
Our Medium Term Plan, thus, indicates the extent to
which we have aligned our resource allocations to
achieve the outcomes of the National Development
Plan and the targets as provided for.

11. The Office of the Prime Minister is required to execute

its budget according to three main programmes.
These are:

• Programme 1: Constitutional obligations of the Prime

Minister and Deputy Prime Minister;

• Programme 2: Public Service Management and

Improvement; and

• Programme 3: Disaster recovery and emergency

services.

12. For 2010/2011, the allocation requested amounts to

N$164.5 million, which is N$129 million lower than
the N$293.4 million allocation for the previous
Financial Year. The difference of 22% is due to the
fact that no special allocation has been made for
/ emergency relief on the Office of the Prime Minister's
budget. (Apart from the yearly N$20millionreserve
allocation on the National Emergency and Disaster
Fund). Similarly, the development budget has
received a lower allocation, because the first phase
of the NIPAMbuilding project is nearly complete.

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13. The operational budget for 2010/2011 amounts to
N$156,509,000, increase of 2,20/0 over last veer's
N$153 million allocation. If one takes into account
the salary adjustments, which have already been
announced, as well as the effect of inflation on
required services, the Office of the Prime Minister is
expected to execute its programmes with only a
marginal increase in real terms.

14. Cde. Chairperson of the Whole House Committee,

Honourable Members of the National Assembly, allow
me to highlight some of the projects we have
budgeted for in line with the aforementioned
programmes.

15. For programme 1 - Constitutional ,obligations of the

Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister:

16. The allocation on this programme will enable the

Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to continue
with activities to properly assist and provide support
to His Excellency, the President, coordinate Cabinet-
related business and to enable the Office to execute
tasks related to its role as Leader of Government
businessin Parliament.

17. An amount of N$32,4 million is being requested for

the programme. A decrease of about N$1,2 million
comparedto last year's allocation. The main reason
for the decrease is the special allocation for the 20th
Independence celebrations, which was finalized the
previous financial year.
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18. Included in the overall allocation isacontinuation

amount, albeit with slight increases compared to last
year, of N$5,2 million for the work of the secretariat
of the State-owned Enterprises Governance Council,
which will be given greater impetus in this financial
year, to ensure compliance with the provisions of the
State-owned Enterprises Governance Act. An
amount of N$1.5 million has been set aside for the

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 secretariat work of the Political Office Bearers
Remuneration Commission.

19. An amount of N$3,3 million is requested for the

ongoing work of the San social inclusion programme.
With respect to the latter, more resettlement
projects for the San and other vulnerable groups'
development programme, will continue to be
identified and announcement made at an appropriate
date.

20. An amount of N$l,S million has been allocated for

the execution of additional administrative tasks
required for the Transformation Empowerment Socio-
Economic Framework (TESEF) project. We remain
hopeful that this ambitious undertaking and the
policy framework will be finalized soon. High level
consultation is ongoing, and funding provision has
been made to take the policy to its execution level
during the course of the next twelve months.

21. Programme 2: Public Service management and

improvement: This programme will require N$102,4
million.

22. I wish to highlight several projects aimed at

enhancing public service performance and improving
public confidence in the delivery of services by the
Public Sector of Namibia.

23. The funds allocated for the programme comprise

63% of the budget for 2010/11. The allocated
i amount will enable the Office to continue to provide

support to the work of the Public Service

Commission. It will also mainly be utilized tocarry
out a number of ongoing interventions already
authorized by Cabinet, to ensure that efficiency,
effectiveness and accountability in the Public Service
is achieved.

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24. The Office of the Prime Minister will continue with the
roll out of the Performance Management System
to more ministries and the establishment of a
permanent high-level monitoring unit, will ensure
that the system continues to expand and that agreed
targets are met. This project is also supported by
the European Union and the Africa Capacity Building
Foundation (ACBF).

25. The implementation of the job evaluation and

grading system will ensure that, in future, Public
Service posts and structures are created and graded
according to scientific norms.

26. The training programmes for Namibia Institute of

Public Administration and Management (NIPAM),
are being developed with the assistance of various
agencies of the Governments of France, India and
Finland. As part of Government's commitment to
ensure that NIPAMprovides the necessary impact, an
amount of N$7,9 million has been allocated on the
development budget to begin with phase two, to
expand the facilities of the Institute.

27. The e-government initiative is also expected to

take-off after the award of the tender to a group of
local and international experts, and its main focus
will be public participation. Furthermore, to ensure
that ,public servants can adapt to this new
environment, the computer literacy training to civil
.servants by UNAMand the Polytechnic of Namibia, in
addition to the those offered through theOPM Virtual
i Learning Centre, will continue to be provided free of

charge.

28. The ultimate goal of public service management

projects is to provide support and increase access
to government services, enhance the
professionalism of the public service, and
improve service delivery.

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29. Programme 3: Disaster and Emergency
Management:

Cde. Chairperson of the Whole House Committee,

Honourable Members, an amount of N$29.6 million,
has been allocated to this programme, for the
support and operations of the Disaster Risk
Management Directorate. In addition, a reserve
amount of about N$145 million has been set aside in
a separate bank account, and together with the new
allocation for this purpose of N$20 million which I
referred to earlier, will bring the total reserve to
N$165 million. The amount is meant to provide for
eventualities and ongoing support, to alleviate the
effects on the flooded areas and set a proper support
system and facility for proper national disaster risk
management.

30. Cde. Chairperson of the Whole House Committee,

Hon. Members of the National Assembly, I now
request this August House, to approve the
expenditure of N$164,S09,OOO as set out in the
schedule, of the Appropriation Bill, for 2010, for the
Office of the Prime Minister.

I thank you.