NACN director blames regions for not receiving Covid-19 funds

The director of the National Art Council of Namibia has placed all blame on the regions which failed to receive any of the Covid-19 funds meant for artists.

The names of the beneficiaries of the 5^th round of the funding meant to mitigate the effects of coronavirus on the livelihoods of Namibian artists were released earlier this month, with some regions receiving more than the others.

The funds which totaled N$1,020,796 benefitted 42 individuals, 10 groups and seven organisations.

Of the 42 individuals who received an amount of N$2,000 each, only one person was from Kunene Region and none from regions such as Kavango West, Omaheke, Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, and Omusati.

On the other hand some regions had a lot of beneficiaries, as follows:

Khomas Region: 13

Kavango East: 9

Erongo Region: 6

//Karas Region: 6

Hardap Region: 3

Otjozondjupa Region: 2

Zambezi Region: 2

Kunene Region: 1

Kavango West: 0

Omaheke: 0

Omusati: 0

Oshikoto: 0

Oshana: 0

Ohangwena: 0.

In the “group” and “organization” categories Khomas was also on top with 8 beneficiaries, followed by Otjozondjupa with 3 beneficiaries, while regions such as Omaheke, Omusati, Kunene, Kavango West, and Zambezi did not have a single beneficiary.

“The outcome is subject to the jury output, not that of the secretariat. Meaning the judgement is per the project and merit and not the region from where it is coming from,” NACN director Ms Gretta Gaspar told Omutumwa.

Gaspar also attributed the poor showing of some regions to their inability to correctly fill the forms and the lack of commitment by the region’s art extension officers in processing the applications before sending them to Windhoek.

When contacted for comment Oshana Region’s Art Extension Officer Mr Risto Iita said: “The fault was certainly not on our side. After all we received the forms late. Some of the forms were not even sent to my office but were sent directly to the regional councilors’ offices, where artists collected them, filled them and submitted them to Windhoek. Some artists also submitted their applications online.

“So that I didn’t have full control over the process. If Oshana failed to receive funding then surely I’m not to blame,” Iita said.

Beneficiaries in the “group” and “organization” categories nationwide were as follows:

Groups: