Martin Endjala
Local authorities that have failed to elect office bearers are causing hardship for residents.
This is according to public policy analyst Marius Kudumo.
“The lack of a functioning council delays much-needed decisions that will positively impact the livelihoods of the residents,” said Kudumo.
The Omuthiya Town Council and the City of Windhoek are among the local authorities currently without mayors and management committees.
These municipalities have yet to elect their respective officebearers.
“Failure to elect office bearers is a dereliction of legal duties and responsibilities and leads to paralysis and dysfunctionality, as no substantive decision can be made,” Kudumo said.
He said the powers, duties, and functions of local authorities are about the provision of basic services to the residents.
The CoW office bearer’s election meeting, held last year on 3 December, was adjourned after councillors walked out of the chamber.
The election was then rescheduled for 9 December 2024 but it was again called off due to a lack of quorum.
CoW spokesperson Lydia Amutenya last week said the municipality is attending to relocating victims of flash floods and will communicate the dates for the election of office bearers in due course.
Meanwhile, the National United Democratic Organization (Nudo) party’s secretary general, Joseph Kauandenge said office bearers are power hungry.
“Their interest as city councillors is more important than service delivery and it was disappointing to see,” said Kauandenge.
According to him, it is regrettable that the opposition parties have been calling for Namibians to vote differently and to vote for the opposition, especially in Windhoek.
“Once the residents did so, the opposition parties in the council became the majority. The opposition coalition disappointed the Windhoek residents big time,” he said.
Kauandenge believes this was a perfect opportunity for the opposition parties to show that they can lead differently and deliver services to their people.
“We were given a perfect opportunity to showcase what leadership is all about, but the opposition parties failed miserably in the city of Windhoek,” he said.
Omuthiya Constituency Councillor Samuel Shivute said the election of officebearers for the town council is set for 17 January.
