PM sets one-month deadline to open N$44m Omusati hostel

A N$44 million school hostel that has stood empty for more than a decade must be operational within a month, Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare has ordered following a surprise visit to the Omusati school.

Ngurare issued the ultimatum after the unannounced visit to Pendukeni Ivula-Ithana Secondary School in the Etayi constituency in the Omusati region last weekend.

Despite millions spent on the construction, the facility has remained unused for more than 12 years.

“Some of it is vandalised, and the children are not using it, yet it is state-of-the-art,” Ngurare stressed.

The prime minister said he had informed education minister Sanet Steenkamp ahead of the visit.

“What we found is not something that is good, and therefore we have directed that within a period of one month, things must be rectified,” he said.

Ngurare pointed out that parents had contributed about N$250 000 from their own pockets to secure the land on which the hostel was built.

“We may not have the resources to go to the moon, but the resources we have invested, as small as they may be, must be put to use. For the love of the Namibian child, we must remove technicalities and place humanity above all else,” he said.

Finally, hope

A school employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prime minister’s visit marked a turning point.

“He met with local leaders, listened attentively and, most importantly, acted. He committed that within a month these facilities will finally serve our children. No more neglect. No more waiting,” the employee said.

“For the first time in years, there is real hope,” they added.

A community member noted that they had waited desperately for the hostel to open.

“Over 11 years ago, the Onamhindi community raised more than N$250 000 to acquire land to upgrade the school into a hostel facility. The patron also contributed, and government later invested over N$44 million to construct a state-of-the-art hostel,” the individual, who also preferred not to be named, said.

“Yet for more than a decade, these facilities stood unused. Our leaders called, wrote letters and even engaged the media, but nothing changed.”

Officials accused of neglect

In October last year, school principal Victor Nanghama publicly criticised the prolonged delays in an interview with NBC.

“I call it sabotage. There is no way officials can sit in their offices and not come to see how the building is being used or how construction is progressing,” he said at the time.

He questioned the absence of oversight from planners and senior officials.

“Maybe they are waiting to be called by the principal, or perhaps they have forgotten what they were appointed to do,” he said.

Nanghama also appealed for intervention from senior government leaders.

“We are requesting the minister and the prime minister to come and see for themselves. Perhaps then we can get answers. When will the children move in, when will the beds arrive, and when will the school be registered?” he said.

He also highlighted logistical challenges faced by staff in maintaining the facility.

“They are telling us to take care of the building. How can we do that when it is so large, far from our offices, and we do not even live here?” he said.

“Only security guards are stationed there, and their responsibility is limited to monitoring the building.”

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