Stefanus Nashama
Chaos and mayhem were the order of the day in the National Assembly on Monday, after a heated exchange of words ensued between Landless People’s Movement (LPM) Member of Parliament, Henny Seibeb and other parliamentarians, after the former threatened to beat up the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, on his official visit to the Karasburg Town Council that is scheduled for today.
Seibeb said that LPM will beat up Uutoni, much to the dismay of some parliamentarians including Swapo members Hilma Nicanor who came to the defense of Uutoni. Uutoni was however not present in parliament at the time. The outburst follows a letter drafted by Uutoni last Friday, in which he informed the Mayor of Karasburg Town, Maria Veldskoen, about his plan to visit the Council today. Uutoni requested to meet the Mayor and the Council leadership to discuss issues surrounding the development of Karasburg.
Utoni further stated that he will use the opportunity to interact with staff members of the Karasburg Town Council for familiarization and to meet the members of the community to foster better working relations between the council and the community.
However, yesterday Seibeb said LPM was vindicated on a High Court case, and it shall continue to govern in the //Kharas Region without any interference by anyone as the Regional Council Act demands.
He has refused to comment about what transpired in parliament on Monday and instead referred questions regarding the remarks he made to the Speaker of Parliament, Peter Katjavivi.
In response to the remarks by Seibeb, Uutoni yesterday told the Windhoek Observer that he cannot comment as he was not present when the threats were made.
“It is difficult for me to comment. I have not heard, or seen any videos or listened to an audio of Seibeb making such remarks,” Uutoni said.
The Minister explained that he is assigned to manage the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and that his duties include visiting all town councils in the country.
“I have visited many other Town Councils and not only Karasburg. I am going to Karasburg Town Council to do my work by engaging, advising them, and discussing with them what they want the ministry to do for them,” he emphasized.
Seibeb on Monday also claimed that the Karasburg Town Council was only allocated a budget of N$35 000 while all other Town Councils were allocated budgets of millions by the ministry. On this, Uutoni said he cannot comment on things that he does not know, but that he will share information and discuss with the Council if there are financial issues.
Katjavivi who on Monday struggled to control the chaos in parliament said “This expression is overhead. The level of noise we are making in the light of the work that we have is unacceptable. The rules are very clear, we will check through this expression and tell you tomorrow (Tuesday)”.
