City loses N$255m over informal settlement feud
Ministry frustrated by sluggish City
The money cut from the City's informal settlement upgrade budget will be diverted to more "responsive" municipalities.
Nikanor Nangolo
Windhoek
Urban and rural development minister Sankwasa James Sankwasa has slashed the City of Windhoek’s N$750 million informal settlements upgrade allocation by N$255 million, citing the municipality’s alleged non-cooperation and lethargy.
The 34% cut to the original allocation will be channelled to “responsive” local authorities elsewhere, the ministry told Namibian Sun.
The move followed an 18 August meeting chaired by Sankwasa, who recently said he had considered recalling City councillors over persistent non-performance.
The ministry’s executive director, Wilhelmine Shivute, confirmed the decision but did not specify which local authorities will receive the redirected funds.
“He [Sankwasa] further requested the council to make sure that the ministry receives their informal settlement implementation plan for the balance of N$495 million by 22 August 2025. This has not been done by the council to date,” Shivute told Namibian Sun on Tuesday.
She cautioned that forfeiture of remaining funds could follow if deadlines were missed, given limited fiscal space.
Mayor disputes availability of funds
Windhoek mayor Ndeshihafela Larandja on Monday denied that the N$750 million was ever made available to the municipality.
“The conditions attached are never realistic and shall never be realistic at all. And we don’t want this to go to the public. There are some things there – there’s always professional secrecy. And we wanted to keep this as professional secrecy,” she told this publication.
But a ministry letter dated 30 May 2025 confirmed the allocation, earmarked for land servicing in Samora Machel, Khomasdal, Tobias Hainyeko, Moses //Garoeb and Groot Aub, as well as electrification and water provision.
The City was required to deliver 1 250 serviced plots by 28 February 2026, with 60% of the work completed by 12 September. Other obligations included 250 communal toilets, formalising at least 16 informal settlements and servicing land at N$50 000 per plot.
Poor attendance, missed deadlines
According to Shivute, the City failed to attend scheduled monthly meetings on 18 June, 16 July and 20 August.
“The ministry also wrote follow-up letters dated 13 June and 16 July, to which we still await response,” she said. A further letter was sent to City CEO Moses Matyayi on 19 August, with no reply received.
She stressed that Windhoek had long known funds are disbursed only upon submission of invoices and performance, as with other participating municipalities such as Walvis Bay, Keetmanshoop, Oshakati and Rundu.
Larandja questioned the timing of the allocation.
“This is the [election] campaign year, and looking at the month, when that deadline was given, it’s before the election. So we don’t want to reveal the truth. We respect our ministry. We respect our government,” she said.
On service delivery, she argued that informal settlement upgrading should not be treated as an emergency.
“When you are treating something as an emergency, you bypass some processes. In future, these infrastructures will become a problem to the City. These poor people will again suffer the consequences,” she said.
Governor weighs in
Khomas governor Sam Nujoma also weighed in, writing to Larandja on 19 August after a meeting with Sankwasa.
“It is evident that the City of Windhoek failed to respond to compliance guidelines issued by the line ministry,” Nujoma noted.
He pressed for clarity on how the City planned to achieve the 60% execution rate by the September deadline, warning that forfeiture of funds meant to improve living conditions in informal settlements was “intolerable”.
Larandja hinted at a tense standoff with government.
“We don’t want to shame the ministry. We don’t want to shame the governor. We have responses that we don’t want to go into,” she said.
“But if we are pushed in a corner, we are going to do it. It’s very, very sensitive information we can offer, where we are advising the ministry. People will lose hope,” she added.
City CEO Moses Matyayi declined to comment.
[email protected]
Windhoek
Urban and rural development minister Sankwasa James Sankwasa has slashed the City of Windhoek’s N$750 million informal settlements upgrade allocation by N$255 million, citing the municipality’s alleged non-cooperation and lethargy.
The 34% cut to the original allocation will be channelled to “responsive” local authorities elsewhere, the ministry told Namibian Sun.
The move followed an 18 August meeting chaired by Sankwasa, who recently said he had considered recalling City councillors over persistent non-performance.
The ministry’s executive director, Wilhelmine Shivute, confirmed the decision but did not specify which local authorities will receive the redirected funds.
“He [Sankwasa] further requested the council to make sure that the ministry receives their informal settlement implementation plan for the balance of N$495 million by 22 August 2025. This has not been done by the council to date,” Shivute told Namibian Sun on Tuesday.
She cautioned that forfeiture of remaining funds could follow if deadlines were missed, given limited fiscal space.
Mayor disputes availability of funds
Windhoek mayor Ndeshihafela Larandja on Monday denied that the N$750 million was ever made available to the municipality.
“The conditions attached are never realistic and shall never be realistic at all. And we don’t want this to go to the public. There are some things there – there’s always professional secrecy. And we wanted to keep this as professional secrecy,” she told this publication.
But a ministry letter dated 30 May 2025 confirmed the allocation, earmarked for land servicing in Samora Machel, Khomasdal, Tobias Hainyeko, Moses //Garoeb and Groot Aub, as well as electrification and water provision.
The City was required to deliver 1 250 serviced plots by 28 February 2026, with 60% of the work completed by 12 September. Other obligations included 250 communal toilets, formalising at least 16 informal settlements and servicing land at N$50 000 per plot.
Poor attendance, missed deadlines
According to Shivute, the City failed to attend scheduled monthly meetings on 18 June, 16 July and 20 August.
“The ministry also wrote follow-up letters dated 13 June and 16 July, to which we still await response,” she said. A further letter was sent to City CEO Moses Matyayi on 19 August, with no reply received.
She stressed that Windhoek had long known funds are disbursed only upon submission of invoices and performance, as with other participating municipalities such as Walvis Bay, Keetmanshoop, Oshakati and Rundu.
Larandja questioned the timing of the allocation.
“This is the [election] campaign year, and looking at the month, when that deadline was given, it’s before the election. So we don’t want to reveal the truth. We respect our ministry. We respect our government,” she said.
On service delivery, she argued that informal settlement upgrading should not be treated as an emergency.
“When you are treating something as an emergency, you bypass some processes. In future, these infrastructures will become a problem to the City. These poor people will again suffer the consequences,” she said.
Governor weighs in
Khomas governor Sam Nujoma also weighed in, writing to Larandja on 19 August after a meeting with Sankwasa.
“It is evident that the City of Windhoek failed to respond to compliance guidelines issued by the line ministry,” Nujoma noted.
He pressed for clarity on how the City planned to achieve the 60% execution rate by the September deadline, warning that forfeiture of funds meant to improve living conditions in informal settlements was “intolerable”.
Larandja hinted at a tense standoff with government.
“We don’t want to shame the ministry. We don’t want to shame the governor. We have responses that we don’t want to go into,” she said.
“But if we are pushed in a corner, we are going to do it. It’s very, very sensitive information we can offer, where we are advising the ministry. People will lose hope,” she added.
City CEO Moses Matyayi declined to comment.
[email protected]
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