Africa-Press – Namibia. NEXT MONTH, THE City of Windhoek will elect a new mayor, deputy mayor and management committee members.
In this connection, I reflect on our time in office drinking from the cup of wisdom of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius. He submitted that wisdom can be acquired through three methods: reflection, which is noblest, imitation, which is the easiest, and experience, which is the most bitter.
As author Yvonne Woon posits in her 2010 novel ‘Dead Beautiful’, “sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead”. FORMIDABLE LEADERSHIP
The Namibian Constitution established local governments with an executive and administration subject only to the Constitution and relevant laws. Despite this genesis, local authorities struggled to operate independently outside the grand narrative and posture of the hegemonic centre of Swapo.
The 2020 elections, however, changed this balance of power. With Swapo having lost control of major municipalities, coalitions and/or voting arrangements were birthed.
In Windhoek, Affirmative Repositioninng, the Independent Patriots for Change, the National Unity Democratic Organisation, and the Popular Democratic Movement formed a coalition called the Progressive Forces.
We worked to give the city an identity and operate outside the patronage network of the hegemonic centre. Windhoek is now taken seriously. FINANCIAL PRUDENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY
We found perplexing finances – assets worth N$20 billion, and liabilities worth N$3 billion. Concurrently, contained in a budget of about N$5 billion, is a deficit of more than N$400 million.
Weak financial management has allowed residents to owe the city more than N$900 million. We tasked our finance team to clean up the books and put systems in place.
We are chasing the city’s first unqualified audit within the next four years. Earlier this year, we cut off the services of several government ministries and agencies which enjoyed the past non-payment culture.
They speedily moved to pay what they owed the city. Resultantly, we used the payment to settle historical debts we owed NamPower and NamWater. A lot still needs to be done, but the foundation is set.
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT With our economy in shambles it became clear that economic recovery in Windhoek cannot be left to posturing national politicians. We redirected the city to assume a developmentalist interventionist character.
Given that Windhoek contributes more than 30% to the country’s gross domestic product, we introduced and approved the Windhoek Economic Recovery Initiative, granting entrepreneurs the opportunity to submit proposals contributing to employment creation and economic growth.
These proposals are being adjudicated, and successful bidders will be announced soon. LAND AND HOUSING We have adopted initiatives to solve Windhoek’s land and housing challenges.
We have passed the affordable housing policy to guide our intervention in the low-income segments of our residents. The approved land preallocation intervention will allow for land allocation to be done faster, soon after the completion of the layouts.
Residents will know the location of their future homes. We have approved one waiting list of all those who have applied for land in Windhoek. This list will soon be available on the city’s website for transparency.
We now have a city-owned company, Nova Actus Holdings (Pty) Ltd, which will be involved in building homes and servicing land, among others. The council has approved the construction of a relocation centre at Otjomuise.
This centre will also be used for emergencies resulting from disasters. PUBLIC LIFE AND SOCIAL HARMONY On close inspection, the small town of Oranjemund may have more well-kept public open spaces and recreational areas than Windhoek.
In their numbers, Windhoek’s young people have now turned to shebeens and alcohol for recreation. To reverse this trend, we have created a dedicated budget vote for the development of public open spaces.
We have started assisting and coordinating with several arts institutions and partners in Windhoek to support the arts in the city. We are currently busy with the development of the public art policy which will further guide the city’s actions.
The city’s bulldozers and graders are busy levelling and preparing several football and netball fields for our children at several informal settlements.
FUTURE TARGETED INITIATIVES By 2041 Windhoek’s population would have increased from an estimated less than 400 000 to 800 000 people. We have started preparing for 2041.
We have started preparations for the Windhoek Education Fund to provide the youth with future education opportunities. We have advertised a tender for the building of a 25MW solar plant in Windhoek.
Beyond the green city and reducing the NamPower dependency, we are primarily planning for the energy needs of the future 800 000 Windhoek inhabitants.
We are almost done with the city’s spatial development framework to guide spatial development over the next 20 years. Future students will be able to cycle to and from their Windhoek campuses.
FRIENDS OF WINDHOEK AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS We have mobilised our internal and external friends to support our development efforts. The European Union and City of Bremen have assisted us in securing N$30 million for our waste-management programmes.
With our Spanish friends, we will soon launch a football school programme administered by Real Madrid FC. UNFINISHED BUSINESS We are yet to finalise the recruitment of the city’s chief executive officer, but preference and kinship, and not the rule of law, seem to be at play.
We were unable to recover and rescue the Association of Local Authorities of Namibia. We were also unable to develop the city’s internal research capacity.
Windhoek City Police problems remain, and the challenges of the Sam Nujoma Stadium and local football persist. ADIóS RESIDENTES We have established a good foundation for further work, and the path will be smooth.
It has been a tough year which has left me fatigued, but we have tried our best. Salutations to the young men and women of the Red Star, the progressive forces, fellow councillors, city employees, and stakeholders.
As our Spanish friends would say, adiós residentes. – Job Shipululo Amupanda is the mayor of Windhoek and activist-in-chief of the AR movement. He holds a PhD in political studies from the University of Namibia.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
