Okahandja residents 'gatvol'

Chaos erupted yesterday at the offices of the Okahandja Municipality when roughly 100 community members marched there to demand the resignation of councillors, who should also immediately vacate their offices.Community representative, Helodesa Hipipohamba Vatilifa, said they would return on 18 April and take further action if the councillors have not resigned and left.“We came here today to express our dissatisfaction with the Okahandja Municipality. It has been far too long that we have suffered under this leadership. We voted you into the positions you find yourself in, but you have forgotten where the road that leads to the community is. When it was time to vote, however, you knew exactly where we live,” he said.Vatilifa added that members of the community find eviction notices on their front doors when they return home from work. “We have no problem to move if we have settled illegally, but we ask only that you come and talk to us.“Furthermore, we are fed up of reading in the newspapers about the corruption cases in which our town council is involved. “We are not here to insult you, we are here to tell you the truth. We voted for you but that does not make you the cleverest people in Okahandja. There are many in this community that do better work than you. So resign and vacate your offices,” he demanded.Kathleen Uri-Khos, the chairperson of the community committee, said land is sold to people who are not from Okahandja and is not offered to the local community first.“People are evicted from their homes where they have lived for longer than 40 years. The land is sold to a developer so that they can build complexes and flats. And this is only one example of the dubious land sales going on in this town.”Municipality staff and the town's CEO Martha Mutilifa refused to comment.Challenges around land in Okahandja have been dragging on for years, with a 2015 moratorium put on all sales by then rural and urban development minister Sophia Shaningwa.Yesterday's protest follows hot on the heels of the suspension of the entire Rehoboth Town Council by current rural and urban development minister Peya Mushelenga on 15 March.At the time, he warned local authorities against infighting and poor service delivery.“It must be clear to all local authorities that the ministry, and I as the minister in particular, will take swift action against any local authority, whenever discipline, order, harmony and service delivery are at stake, and in the interest of the public.” TANJA BAUSE

Okahandja residents 'gatvol'

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-19

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Okahandja residents 'gatvol'

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-19

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