Ester Mbathera
The City of Windhoek (CoW) has put the land on which the Ministry of Health and Social Services plans to build the Windhoek district hospital on sale for N$18.9 million by way of a private treaty.
This is the same piece of land where vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, announced the construction of the new hospital during a groundbreaking ceremony in May.
At the time, the event occurred on unpurchased land, raising concerns about the project’s timeline and process.
The land measuring 151 432 square metres on Farm 508 Havana was approved for sale by the CoW in 2017 according to council resolution 246/10/2017.
The CoW has called on interested parties to lodge their written objections for the unimproved land before 11:00 on Friday, November 1 November.
Political analyst Henning Melber has criticised the handling of the hospital land deal, calling it an election campaign blunder and accusing the organisers of the groundbreaking event of misleading the public.
“It is of course ridiculous to pretend that the first step towards the construction of the district hospital without being in possession of the land on which it should be built. It would mean that anyone could go to any so far not allocated and not utilised land and pretend to start a construction project while not in possession of the land,” he said.
Melber argues that this act of tokenism misleads voters into believing that the project is genuinely underway.
“There seems to be a tendency to mislead the electorate by means of such tokenism. It is even worse than the unrealistic promises made in the various election manifestos. It is, in actual fact, a deliberate misleading of voters, who are made to believe that this is a project which had started in all earnest. Shame on you, Netumbo Nandi-Ndeitwah and all your campaign advisors,” he said.
The ministry maintains that the process is moving forward according to plan and won’t have an impact on the hospital project, despite concerns about the timing and the security of the land.
Ben Nangombe, the executive director of the MoHSS, explained that the land sale, valued at N$18.9 million, is merely a procedural formality.
“The agreement was already reached. This is just a formality. Remember, this is a government-to-government entity transaction,” he said.
Nangombe reassured the public that there would be no delays in the project.
“There is no impact on the project whatsoever. The project is being implemented on an expedited basis. If you noticed in the media a week ago, we advertised bids for bulk services for water, roads, and electricity,” he said.
Nangombe added that the ministry proceeded to fence off the land because the council had passed a resolution to allocate it several years ago.
When asked about potential complexities arising from the ongoing land sale and public objections, Nangombe dismissed such concerns.
“No complexities are expected. Modalities are already in place in terms of handling the process. There is a Technical Committee comprising the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Ministry of Works and Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, the National Planning Commission and the City of Windhoek. The necessary approvals are in place, and the process is proceeding smoothly,” Nangombe said.
He also addressed concerns about the project’s timeline.
“The timelines for expedited implementation are guiding the process. Our aim, in terms of a whole-of-government approach to the project, is to ensure that we complete the project within the timelines. So far, the process is going according to plan,” Nangombe added.
It is not clear when the objection notice was put out because ordinarily, land sales in local authority areas follow a certain process.
The Local Authorities Act of 1992 outlines the processes related to the ownership and transfer of urban land under the jurisdiction of local authorities.
According to the Act, for land sales to happen, there must be a thorough assessment and approval from the relevant local authority.
This ensures that all necessary regulations and community interests are considered before any transactions occur.
The Act also requires the completion of the necessary documentation, offering transparency and legal protection to all parties involved in the sale.
Any deviation from these established procedures could lead to complications or disputes regarding land ownership.
Nangombe shared that everything is on track for the project, which is encouraging news.
However, there appears to be some ambiguity surrounding the issued objection notice.
Typically, land sales in these areas adhere to a specific procedure, as detailed in the Local Authorities Act of 1992, including public consultations and assessments.
Compliance with these regulations is crucial for maintaining transparency and fairness in land transactions within the community.
Local authorities must first consult the minister of urban and rural development to obtain approval.
After that, the local authority is required to publish public notices in two newspapers for two consecutive weeks, as in the case of the district hospital project, to allow stakeholders or members of the public to voice concerns or contest the sale before it is finalised.
These notices should detail the property and invite objections from the public within ten days of the last publication.
If there are no objections, we can sell the property within a year.
Before granting or denying approval, the minister must review objections and the local authority’s comments.
The minister may occasionally order a public tender process to sell the property.
The land transfer can only be completed once all legal conditions, such as the resolution of objections, are met.
Only then can the buyer legally register the land in their name and begin development.
