WINDHOEK, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Namibia will amend the Public Enterprises Governance Act in a bid to turn around state-owned enterprises that cost about one billion U.S. dollars to run in 2017/18.
There are more than 300 state-owned enterprises in Namibia categorized as non-commercial, commercial and financial.
In 2017/18 alone, the state-owned enterprises had a wage bill that topped 6 billion Namibian dollars (520 million U.S. dollars) per year and accrued a debt of more than 43 billion Namibian dollars (3.7 billion U.S. dollars).
One of the amendments is meant to punish state-owned enterprises' board of directors to account for poor performance.
Public enterprises minister Leone Jooste said Monday that the board's accountability as a collective and individual board members would enjoy particular attention.
"In cases where reckless trading or gross negligence can be determined, board members will be held personally liable with associated unpleasant consequences," Jooste told the annual stakeholders meeting in Windhoek.
Jooste also said they would also develop the public enterprises' performance and remuneration framework and an integrated performance system that requires state-owned enterprises to have fully functional performance management systems.
"This is a simple but fundamental requirement to cultivate a performance culture within the public enterprises," Jooste said.
According to Jooste, the government had already finalized the new recruitment guidelines for recruiting board members.
The guidelines that will be presented to Cabinet, Jooste said, introduce a new thorough recruitment process to ensure the best possible people are identified transparently.
"One of the factors we will have to pay particular emphasis on is to ensure that sector-specific skilled board members are appointed," Jooste added.
The minister further said that state-owned enterprises boards should meet not more than four times per year and that in case there is need to meet more, then they have to apply for permission.
Jooste explained that guidelines on how to recruit, suspend and dismiss state-owned enterprises chief executive officers would be issued this quarter.
