Rundu racks up N$128m water bill in four years

The Rundu town council owed NamWater N$76 million in September 2019, with that debt rising to more than N$200 million as of 30 June this year.This according to the council’s strategic finance executive, Sam Nekaro.Nekaro made the revelation during his presentation to the parliamentary standing committee on human resources and community development last week, which is conducting public hearings on a motion aimed at writing off local authorities&#039; historic debts.In 2019, Namibian Sun reported on the council&#039;s struggle to pay its N$76 million debt to NamWater, a situation that resulted in frequent water cuts that saw residents from the riverside town go without tap water for days and sometimes weeks.Nekaro&#039;s recent revelation that the council now owes NamWater N$204 million indicates a lack of progress in servicing its historic debt, which continues to accumulate interest.Non-paying customersNekaro said council is struggling to service its debt with NamWater because of poor revenue collection – reportedly, only a third of the local authority’s account holders are paying their accounts.Nekaro explained that only around 5 000 out of 15 000 account holders are paying for services."There is a high reluctance from the inhabitants in honouring their obligation with council; hence, our revenue collection is quite poor," Nekaro explained."This makes it difficult for council to religiously honour its obligation with the bulk supplier."He said that as of 30 June, the residents owed council N$346 million.Proper planning hamperedRundu councillor Reginald Ndara, who also attended the public hearing, said council is willing to write off the debt owed by its residents if the government can write off their debt with NamWater.Ndara explained that the NamWater debt places a huge burden on the council as it hampers proper planning for the development of the town.NamWater has placed Rundu Town Council on a prepaid system.kenya@namibiansun.com

Rundu racks up N$128m water bill in four years

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-10-05

Please login to leave a comment

Rundu racks up N$128m water bill in four years

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-10-05

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content