MPs expose failing health facilities

Namibia’s public health infrastructure is under severe strain, with patients treated in tents and healthcare workers’ homes, hospital projects unfinished for years, medical waste dumped in public spaces, ambulances standing idle and communities waiting hours for emergency transport.

A parliamentary oversight investigation across 10 regions has exposed stalled construction, deteriorating infrastructure, transport shortages, poor sanitation and weak contractor oversight.

The parliamentary standing committee on gender equality, health and social welfare made the findings after visiting health facilities in ǁKharas, Hardap, Omaheke, Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena, Kavango West, Kavango East, Zambezi and Otjozondjupa between 21 July and 29 August 2025.

Its report, tabled in parliament this week more than a year later, shows that some projects have remained incomplete for years while communities continue receiving healthcare under conditions the committee deemed inadequate.

Nkurenkuru hospital still a dream

Nkurenkuru District Hospital in Kavango West stands out as one of the clearest examples of the delays.

More than a decade after former president Hifikepunye Pohamba broke ground for the hospital in 2014, construction has still not started.

Although a primary healthcare facility was completed on site, the planned district hospital remains unbuilt and parts of the site have been vandalised.

Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare announced in May this year that government had secured funding to build the hospital, offering fresh hope to a project that has remained on the drawing board for 12 years.

Nkurenkuru, however, is part of a broader infrastructure problem the committee identified.

In Oshana, the proposed Ondangwa District Hospital, approved in 2016, had been put on hold because of funding constraints, adding pressure on Oshakati Intermediate Hospital, where the committee recorded 737 admitted patients during its visit and found that the casualty department was also handling outpatient services.

In Omaheke, upgrades to clinics, including Aminuis, had stalled, while Gobabis District Hospital remained without an operating theatre despite an upgrade planned since 2017.

Under canvas and sky

Conditions at smaller facilities showed how unfinished infrastructure directly affects patients and healthcare workers.

At Sachona in Zambezi, a clinic has been operating from a tent since September 2024 because a two-room extension remains unfinished. The contractor was last seen at the facility in the first week of August 2024, yet the committee was told the same contractor later received another tender.

Meanwhile, a nearby nurse's house built in the 1960s has been converted into a pharmacy and storeroom with no air conditioning.

At Muyako, the situation has persisted even longer, with healthcare services provided from a two-bedroom nurses' house for more than 10 years.

The facility had no running water or patient toilets, and patients had no shelter from the weather, forcing them to crowd into the small building with nurses whenever it rained or endure hot days without adequate protection from the elements.

The committee linked persistent construction problems to inadequate monitoring and a failure to hold contractors accountable.

“Furthermore, there are no penalty fees imposed on the underperforming contractors, resulting in inefficiency and poor service delivery,” the report states.

It also found that part of the money allocated to health infrastructure during the financial years under review was diverted to other projects instead of being used for its intended purpose.

The infrastructure problems extended to transport, with the committee finding that single ambulances covered several clinics while other government vehicles stayed grounded for long periods.

In Zambezi, one ambulance was serving seven health facilities, resulting in patients reportedly waiting more than four hours to be transported to Katima Mulilo.

In Omusati, only 61 of the region's 130 vehicles were operational, while transport shortages in other regions meant medicine deliveries to clinics could take two to three weeks.

Dogs eat placenta

Among the most disturbing conditions were those at Tsumkwe, where medical waste was dumped at an open site accessible to the public and dogs were reportedly seen eating discarded placentas.

The clinic's mortuary had also been out of service for five years. During the committee's visit, three bodies were being kept in a police mortuary designed for two, with two of them placed on top of each other.

Healthcare workers told the committee they were struggling with excessive workloads, delayed or unpaid overtime and emotional exhaustion, prompting MPs to recommend a labour audit, payment of legitimate outstanding overtime claims and psychological support for staff.

The committee has now proposed quarterly progress reports from the health ministry to parliament, pressuring government to show that it is implementing its recommendations.