By: Dwight Links
NamPower is currently owed close to N$1 billion before the close of this year, most of which is owed by southern towns and regional authorities.
These are towns such as Rehoboth, Mariental, Keetmanshoop, Lüderitz, Aranos, Karasburg, Maltahöhe, Gibeon, Bethanie and authorities such as the //Karas Regional Council.
This was revealed by the Electricity Control Board (ECB) chief executive officer, Robert Kahimise, who shared this development and other related matters pertaining to the outlook for 2026.
“NamPower is currently owed a total of N$912 million, across various entities. Which is close to a billion,” Kahimise noted during a media briefing on Friday.
According to the ECB, if that outstanding amount had been paid over to the utility, various reinvestment aspects could have been completed to date.
“If they [NamPower] had that billion, and they invested in the likes of the generation projects which would bring down the costs, we would not be struggling. This would translate to bringing down some of the costs, and the country would not struggle in realising the decreasing, expensive local generation,” said Kahimise.
The debt owed to the power utility comes from local authorities and state-owned enterprises.
“Some of these entities have breached repayment settlement arrangements to the tune of N$557 million as of 25 November 2025,” the ECB stated.
Mariental Municipality owes the largest share at N$233 million, followed by Gobabis Municipality with N$70 million. The ECB indicated that the newly instated local councillors should be aware of the state of their local authorities’ outstanding financial obligations.
Karasburg Municipality owes N$59 million, Aranos Town Council N$58 million, Maltahöhe Village Council N$34 million, Gibeon Village Council N$ 24 million, with Bethanie Village Council’s debt standing at N$21 million.
Kahimise noted that the situation in the south is exacerbated by the lack of structured and operational Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs), citing a noticeable difference in parts of the country where said distributors are operational.
“We cannot say the same where there are operational REDs in place, whether it be in Zambezi Region to Omusati, Ohangwena Region, and not even the Erongo Region or Otjozondjupa Region. These regions are not in arrears,” Kahimise noted.
The southern regions of Namibia previously had an RED, which was known as SELCO, but closed down before 2020 and occasionally had issues with Keetmanshoop and Karasburg local authorities regarding tariff disputes.
The ECB confirmed that these regions will soon have their own RED, cautioning that local authorities adjust their tariffs as approved by the regulator to avoid selling electricity at a loss.
