By: Kelvin Chiringa
The former City of Windhoek mayor, Francina Kahungu, and the current mayor, Job Amupanda, have traded barbs on whose team has delivered better service to the residents.
Amupanda accused the Swapo-led council on his social media of allocating nothing for land and housing but said the current council has set aside N$55m.
“In the last year’s Capital Budget for land and housing, the City of Windhoek allocated N$0 to land and housing. This year (2021) the City of Windhoek allocation N$55 000 000.00 (55 million) to Land and Housing. Yes, from Zero (0) to 55 million. Despite the propaganda and reactionary politics, this Council Elected in 2020 and in office for only 8 months is working hard. Of course, they won’t tell you!” he said.
Kahungu could not let it lie when she also took to her own social media accusing Amupanda of not being informed and also failing to speak of the good her leadership had done.
“Dear, you are hereby notified to read the above-attached slide indicating that the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development committed N$55 million in the financial year 2021/2022 for the formalisation of informal settlement.
“Equally, in the past financial year 2020/2021, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development gave more than N$50 million to Windhoek Municipality for the formalisation of informal settlements,” she posted on her page.
Amupanda did not pick up his phone, but Kahungu did.
“All I can say is that for the past year, council has been budgeting for the formalisation of the informal settlements,” she said in a telephonic conversation with The Villager.
Kahungu said they built more than 300 houses in One Nation, Onyika, Havana and Samora Machel constituencies.
“All those houses were built by the money from the contribution of the ministry because by then, the municipality did not budget for the money for low-cost housing. You see, in every situation, do not only look for bad things. People will never talk about the good things that we have done,” she said.
The exchange of accusations come when the Windhoek Municipality has kicked off its much-anticipated land conference at the back of mass violent protests by the landless poor in Otjomuise and Katutura in the past few months.
The city has been a theatre of running battles between land grabbers and armed police officers as anger over a perceived slackness in delivering on land and housing has been poured over the new breed of councillors.
Kahungu has said the conference was part of the Swapo-led council agenda set by her team during the land and housing delivery workshop of 2015.
Kahungu said the workshop must come up with an action plan as well as identify what is preventing councillors from taking some of the resolutions.
The conference itself comes also as Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga has accused counsellors of failing to deliver, and for fuelling chaos in the city.
