Government Must Fix Its Own Salary Disparities First

The prime minister’s decision to establish a task force to review executive remuneration in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is a welcome step towards greater accountability and responsible use of public funds.

Executive salaries should be scrutinised, particularly where they appear disconnected from performance or the country’s economic realities.

However, the review addresses only part of a much larger problem.

Before focusing on SOEs, the government should confront the salary disparities within the public service itself.

Charity begins at home.

The government is Namibia’s largest employer.

If it wants to champion fairness in public sector remuneration, it must ensure its own salary structures reflect dignity, equity and social justice.

One of the clearest inequalities is the gap between the lowest-paid employees and senior officials.

Cleaners, gardeners, office attendants, messengers, labourers, drivers, clerical assistants, receptionists, security staff and other support workers keep the government functioning every day.

They maintain public buildings, transport officials, deliver documents, manage supplies and ensure hospitals, schools and ministries operate effectively.

Yet many struggle with salaries that fail to keep pace with rising costs of food, transport, housing, healthcare and education.

Salary differences based on qualifications and responsibility are both necessary and reasonable.

An executive director should earn more than a cleaner because the roles differ.

The real question is whether those differences have become excessively wide.

The government should therefore review remuneration across all public service grades to determine whether salary gaps remain fair, sustainable and socially acceptable.

Particular attention should be paid to whether lower-paid employees earn enough to support their families and participate meaningfully in the economy.

The debate should not focus only on what senior executives earn, but also on whether frontline workers earn enough.

Public concern that some SOE chief executives receive higher remuneration than the country’s top elected leaders has raised legitimate questions about accountability.

Executive pay should be based on the complexity of the role, measurable performance, organisational sustainability and market competitiveness.

Public entities must attract capable leaders while demonstrating value for taxpayers’ money.

For this reason, the prime minister’s independent task force deserves support.

An evidence-based review is preferable to decisions driven by politics or public emotion.

But the same principles should be applied throughout the public service, where the government has direct responsibility for setting salaries.

Some argue that reducing executive pay would make it harder to attract skilled professionals. There is merit in that concern.

Namibia needs competent leadership in strategic public institutions. Yet attracting talent cannot come at the expense of fairness.

A sustainable public service depends on both capable leadership and a motivated workforce.

Salary reform should therefore extend beyond SOEs to include the entire public service.

Any review should consider affordability, productivity, inflation, job evaluations and international best practice while ensuring lower-income employees are not overlooked.

As Namibia grapples with unemployment, inequality and rising living costs, every public dollar should promote fairness and value.

If remuneration reform is to build a more equitable public sector, it must include the workers whose contributions often go unnoticed.

The prime minister has taken an important first step.

The next should be a comprehensive review of public service salaries, especially those at the lower end of the scale.

Appreciation alone does not sustain workers; fair remuneration does. Real salary reform begins at home.

– Hosea Shishiveni is a Namibian scholar and researcher. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are his own.

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