Stefanus Nashama
Constituency councillors are raising the alarm over the insufficient drought relief food being provided to feed struggling households in urban areas.
This is despite ongoing government efforts to address the worsening hunger crisis.
Councillors in urban constituencies last week expressed their concerns about the dire situation in their areas.
Tegako Donatus, the Walvis Bay Rural constituency councillor in the Erongo region, told the Windhoek Observer that he has extensively discussed the issue of hunger.
“I have raised this issue many times. I have engaged and written letters to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), which is a custodian of the drought relief program, but nothing has come out,” he explained.
Donatus said the OPM directive issued last year has not been implemented because there is no directive on how to go about it.
“The people in urban are hungry and are still not receiving food aid,” he said.
He said he is traumatised by the situation, which led him to sometimes avoid working from the office when he has nothing to offer hungry people.
“I only go to the office when I have something to offer, even a 5kg of maize meal. Sometimes I have donors who assist us with food parcels and I am grateful for that,” he said.
He said his entire constituency survives on donations, including money from families and friends.
The Khomas Regional Council management committee chairperson and councillor for the John Pandeni constituency, John Mwoonde, added that aside from the drought, the country’s situation has been exacerbated by the high unemployment rate.
“Many people are unemployed, and even social grants for elderly people cannot sustain whole households,” he said.
Mwoonde reported that his office receives a daily flood of food requests.
“People come to the office looking for food, but we do not just give food like that. We have to go to the house and assess if they are really in need of food,” he explained.
He said there is no project to mobilise for food in the constituency, except for occasional food parcel donations from some organisations.
The situation in rural areas is no different.
Uukwiyuushona constituency councillor in the Oshana region, Andreas Amundjindi, said insufficient food is a daily challenge in the constituency.
He claims that while over 2 000 households have registered for drought relief food, only about 1600 are currently receiving benefits from the program.
“Drought relief food is not enough, although the government is trying and this situation is not only in our constituency, it affects the whole region,” he said.
According to Amundjindi, people come to his office every day to ask for food, but the constituency does not have food in the storeroom.
“Sometimes, I end up using my own money to buy maize meals if a person comes and you can see they are really in need,” he said.
Amundjindi further said it has become a challenge for him to assist people from his pocket, as everyone affected would expect help.
He said the only other assistance they get is from the Regional Council, which helps those in urgent need.
Amundjindi urged businesspeople to collaborate with the government by offering assistance to combat poverty.
Ondobe constituency councillor in the Ohangwena region, Hilaria Ndjuluwa, raised the same issue, saying that the amount of food available is not sufficient due to the increasing number of people in need.
She said her constituency has a project in place to gather mahangu to help those who are in need.
“There is no hunger to kill people in our constituency. It is only that the food cannot be given to everyone since there are those who are really in need than others,” she said.
