Oshana’s 86 water workers share two vehicles

Oshana's rural water supply teams reportedly share a 4×4 bakkie and a minibus among 86 workers, raising fresh questions about whether regional councils have enough resources to take on functions being transferred from central government.

Oshana chief regional officer Teopolina Hamtumwa disclosed the vehicle shortage during a session on the progress of Namibia's decentralisation programme at the third National and Regional Council consultative meeting in Otjiwarongo this week.

Hamtumwa said the directorate of rural water supply and sanitation coordination (Dapis) has about 40 staff, while rural water supply employs 46.

“These are the people who are responsible for running around, fixing water, bust pipes,” Hamtumwa said, pointing out need for more vehicles.

The disclosure comes against a history of vehicle and resource constraints affecting water services in northern Namibia.

A National Council standing committee oversight report previously identified ageing vehicle fleets, insufficient funding and old water infrastructure as challenges affecting rural water supply, including in Oshana. The committee said the provision of potable water to remote communities depended on resources such as vehicles and personnel.

It recommended that regional councils receiving delegated water-supply functions be provided with the full resources required to maintain ageing water infrastructure, while also calling for the replacement of old government vehicles.

In 2023, the region's head of finance and administration, Jonas Kapenda, told a National Council committee that some government vehicles in the region were not roadworthy and that the government garage itself faced a shortage of vehicles.

More work, no support

The water infrastructure burden has continued. Oshana was among the northern regions affected by water rationing in 2025 following a pump failure at Calueque, while regional officials have also raised concerns about ageing pipelines and recurring pipe breaks.

Hamtumwa linked the transport shortage to a wider problem created by decentralisation, saying the number of delegated functions had tripled while regional council structures had remained largely unchanged.

She said responsibilities had expanded into areas including education, health, agriculture and land reform, information and communication technology, as well as rural water supply and sanitation coordination.

“Even the 40 hours a week is no longer sufficient to administer,” she said.

Her concern was whether functions were being transferred with enough financial, human and material resources to allow councils to execute them effectively.

Godwin Skabongo, director of decentralisation coordination at the urban and rural development ministry, said more than 90%, and possibly as much as 95%, of the functions originally identified for decentralisation had already been delegated to regional councils.

“The resources must follow functions,” Skabongo said, referring to human resources, financial resources and other assets needed by sub-national governments.

He said line ministries from which functions were being decentralised were expected to make budgetary provisions for the resources required by regional councils to deliver those services.

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