Former Kamanjab Councillor Accused OfMortgage Repayment Evasion

By:Uakutura Kambaekua’s
Former Kamanjab Constituency Councillor Engenesia Tjiretje-Ensingue is one of the beneficiaries of the Kamanjab Build Together initiative and has reportedly fallen behind on their home payments for the previous nine years.
The Kamanjab Council has not received a single penny from Tjiretje-Ensingue since 2014, when she acquired the loan, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
The Build Together Programme, which was launched in all 14 regions more than 30 years ago, was designed to provide every Namibian family, who lack access to homes due to low income, with a fair opportunity to own property with water and electricity.
Surprisingly, the former councilor was shortlisted, despite receiving a huge government salary. He entered the list of beneficiaries in 2014.
Tjiretje-Ensingue served as a Constituency Councillor in the Kamanjab Constituency from 2014 until 2020. Prior to that, she served as the Chairwomen of the Swapo Women Council branch in Kamanjab from 2005 and 2014.
According to the information given to The Villager, Tjiretje-Ensingue acquired a build-together loan by substituting another recipient on the list.
Furthermore, the village’s Chief Executive Officer sent a demand letter for the repayment of a N$32,000 loan granted in 2014 for a specific Abel Gaseb.
According to the statement issued to The Villager, the councilor had been abusing her position as a politician to circumvent regulations regarding border extension by failing to follow the processes for submitting and paying the requisite payments of N$320 per month.
However, Tjiretje-Ensingue denied the allegations, saying it was simply a “political witch-hunt” by those who hated her. She said the allegations against her were far from true as she was paying off her loan each month.
She also claimed that she was not a councillor during her reporting period. “All talks about me abusing my political position as a councillor is nonsense because I got a loan when I was the secretary of the Kamanjab Combined School,” Tjiretje-Ensingue pointed out.
“I applied for the said loan in 2004 and not as stated in the memo, and have thus been paying around N$310 on a monthly basis for that loan,” she added.
Tjaritje was also threatened with legal action should she fail to honour the full amount of N$32,000 for the loan by the end of June 2023.
The Kamanjab Build Together initiative had received more than N$6 million from the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development since 2003 as a revolving fund for the construction of low-cost houses.
Kamanjab residents owe the Village Council a staggering amount of N$5 million from loans paid out for the Build Together project, including another N$3 million in outstanding erven loans.