Rundu grapples with barriers to housing development

Rundu is facing a worsening housing and land crisis, with only 10% of its land serviced and ready for development.

Acting CEO Fransiska Kupembona told the parliamentary standing committee on urban and rural development this week that rapid population growth is intensifying the problem.

The consultative meetings form part of a nationwide effort to confront Namibia’s escalating housing emergency.

Government figures place the national housing backlog at about 300 000 units, while nearly 29% of households live in informal structures, most of them in urban centres.

The committee is consulting the country’s most populated local authorities to assess progress, identify constraints and explore sustainable solutions for housing delivery, particularly for low-income households.

Capacity hampered

Presenting Rundu’s situation, Kupembona said the town covers more than 15 500 hectares, but much of this land remains unsuitable for development, as it is either unplanned, already occupied or located within flood-prone areas along the Kavango River.

These limitations significantly reduce the town’s capacity to expand formal housing.

“If land is not planned, it cannot be registered and approved as a township,” she said. “Without those statutory processes, the area is declared unplanned.”

Rapid urbanisation continues to place immense pressure on the town, fuelling the growth and densification of informal settlements, she added.

Areas such as Ndama South, Kaisosi South, Tuhingireni, Tumweneni and Sikanduko highlight how demand for housing far exceeds the availability of serviced land.

Kupembona revealed that no new serviced residential plots have been delivered in the past ten years, while annual output remains far below demand. Limited access to Build Together loans has further constrained residents’ ability to construct formal homes, allowing the housing backlog to grow steadily.

She noted that earlier initiatives, including the Last Development Project of 2008–2009, focused on formalising existing informal settlements by granting residents legal tenure. However, the programme did not provide funding for housing construction, leaving residents to build homes on their own.

“The emphasis was to formalise and allow people access to land,” Kupembona explained. “There was no provision under this project to finance the construction of houses.”

Multiple barriers to development

The housing challenge is being compounded by broader systemic issues, including limited financial resources, unresolved land compensation disputes and illegal land allocations and sales by traditional authorities. Other factors include unauthorised crop farming within municipal boundaries, lengthy approval processes under the Urban and Regional Planning Act, and technical and staffing capacity constraints within the town council.

High unemployment levels further undermine affordability for many residents.

Rundu currently does not have a locally driven housing programme. Housing delivery depends largely on national initiatives such as the National Housing Enterprise (NHE), the Mass Housing Programme, Build Together and private developers, with only NHE and private developers actively delivering houses at present.

“Build Together is an initiative under the ministry,” Kupembona said. “Funds are allocated to local authorities, but at the moment, there is nothing running.”

Senior leaders

During the presentation, committee member Job Amupanda criticised the absence of the town’s senior leadership, describing it as unacceptable for junior officials to appear before the committee on critical governance matters. He argued that accountability should rest with the substantive CEO, mayor and senior executives, with junior officers serving only in a supporting role.

Kupembona, who delivered the presentation in her capacity as acting CEO and strategic executive for committee services, explained that the substantive CEO was attending an urgent consultation, necessitating her delegation to the committee.