WINDHOEK: The Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia, Prof Kenneth Matengu has warned against the allocation of insufficient funds to critical sectors in the country, saying it may hamper development.

Matengu was speaking during a high level tertiary education funding budget review dinner organised by the Namibia Press Agency on Thursday night. Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila officiated the event. Matengu stressed that services of strategic interest which are critical to a country’s development are education, health, security and agriculture.

‘If there is no investment in those services, a nation will fault in its development objectives and the obligations the State has to the people will be compromised. Typically if a country is in trouble, governments that use this model will increase investments in these sectors. If you are not allocating resources to cause development to happen, there is a problem,’ he said.

He further reiterated that the national budget ought to cause development throu
gh building competencies that the country needs.

‘If you don’t assign resources you have not made a decision. As a country we need to reflect if we are really using the budget to steer education, to achieve the competencies a sector needs. A national budget is a platform that Government uses to allow its nation to know how the resources it has raised will be used. It is a system that allows for accountability in terms of tax payers as well as the legislation,’ Matengu added.

Source: Namibia Press Agency