Africa-Press – Namibia. WALVIS Bay mayor Trevino Forbes, Swakopmund mayor Louisa Kativa and Windhoek mayor Sade Gawanas on Friday signed a tripartite agreement at Walvis Bay.
The agreement aims at strengthening, promoting and fostering the friendly relationship between the three local authorities and their residents.
The mayors pledged to commit their councils to the agreement, and for their management to assist in the successful implementation of the agreement through capacity building, resource sharing and knowledge exchange.
“As the only part one municipalities in the country, it is our national obligation and duty to ensure this agreement becomes a working document that will not only strengthen the Windhoek-Walvis Bay-Swakopmund relationship by means of cooperation, but also propel smaller municipalities, town councils and village councils to greater heights through meaningful cooperation with them,” Forbes said.
Gawanas said while the urban environment plays a vital role in the provision of employment, shelter, and municipal services and education, rapid growth in urbanisation and rural urban migration places tremendous pressure on larger local authorities’ ability to effectively manage urban challenges.
“From the City of Windhoek’s perspective, maintaining our local contacts and assisting other local authorities enhance the necessary local government capacity, and tackle local development challenges in the context of our national decentralisation process.
“This calls for increased investment in our institutional capacity building and people as a crucial precondition for the desired social and local economic transformation,” she said.
Gawanas said the partnership between all spheres of the government, the public and the private sector is a key response to the challenge of local governance.
Kativa said: “It is important that we have an annual action plan which details the list of activities to be carried out. As councillors, we need to have an exchange programme where we can, for example, attend each other’s council meetings and learn from one another.
“I believe this would aid us in carrying out our duties better.
“It is also important that we arrange meetings to cover topics of interest. This can be a platform for local authority politicians to share experiences and ideas, and have discussions on matters of mutual concern.”
Areas of cooperation will include technical cooperation and knowledge sharing on urbanisation, and on land and housing delivery.
Gawanas also visited the Okakarara, Otjiwarongo, Outjo and Omaruru municipalities last week.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
