Hertta-Maria Amutenja
Namibia’s northern regions are experiencing widespread power outages, with residents in parts of the Omusati and Oshikoto regions reporting prolonged blackouts that have disrupted daily life and essential services.
The entire Onemanya area, along with neighbouring villages such as Uukuvu, Ilambo, and Onadjila, has been without electricity since Wednesday.
The outage has affected households, small businesses, and schools, with many residents raising concerns over the lack of communication and response.
Getrud Simeon from Onemanya village said the continued blackout was causing mounting frustration.
“The power is still off, and it’s becoming frustrating. We depend on electricity for everything. From lighting to cooking and keeping our homes warm, especially with the current rainy season. It’s been hard for everyone here,” said Simeon.
Villagers in Uukuvu and Ilambo shared similar experiences, noting the challenges of keeping food fresh and staying connected during the outage.
“We don’t even know when the power will be restored. We are completely in the dark, literally. These outages are becoming more frequent, and we’re distressed about how we will manage if it continues,” they said.
While the power cut has affected several northern villages, the situation is particularly concerning for communities like Onayena, in the Oshikoto region, where another power outage occurred just last week.
Lydia Amutenya, a resident from Onayena, took to Facebook to express her frustrations, urging NORED to address the recurring infrastructure issues.
“These outages are causing a lot of hardship. I strongly urge NORED to improve its services. This situation has highlighted potential gaps in the infrastructure’s capacity to meet the demands of our community. We strongly urge you to review and improve your infrastructure to ensure a more reliable and efficient service.” Amutenya said.
The power failure in the Omusati region is linked to a broken pole along the Indira Gandhi – Etilyasa 33kV line, which NORED (Northern Regional Electricity Distributor).
NORED’s spokesperson, Simon Lukas, confirmed that the current outage affecting Onemanya and surrounding villages was caused by the broken pole.
“We can confirm that the villages are off due to a broken pole, which is also submerged in water on the Indira Gandhi – Etilyasa 33kV line. The team has managed to erect the pole, and power will be restored,” Lukas said.
He assured that the supply would be restored soon.
