Mathias Hangala
The City of Windhoek (CoW) has announced a N$200 million debt cancellation initiative aimed at assisting pensioners and other vulnerable groups.
CoW spokesperson Lydia Amutenya confirmed this development in an interview with The Villager yesterday. She explained that the initiative targets pensioners, persons with disabilities, orphan-headed households, child-headed households (21 years and below), as well as qualifying NGOs and charitable organisations. A registration and verification process of these categories is currently underway.
The latest intervention follows an earlier Council resolution in November 2023 approving a debt write-off of N$524 million. That package covered registered pensioners, a 50% interest write-off for all account holders, ambulance service accounts, and communal water point accounts.
Furthermore, late last year, Council Resolution 237/10/2025 brought the total approved debt write-offs over a two-year period to N$724 million.
To date, approximately N$380 million has been processed and written off, according to Amutenya. She added that this amount primarily relates to pensioner accounts and qualifying households in informal settlements under previously approved categories. The remaining approved amounts will be written off progressively as verification, registration, and committee approval processes are finalised, particularly for newly-approved beneficiary groups.
Amutenya noted that one of the conditions for qualifying applicants is that they must have applied, or intend to apply, for a prepaid water meter. The cost of installation can be incorporated into their payment arrangements.
However, social justice activist Shawn Gariseb has raised concerns about the implementation of the programme. He argued that several residents, particularly senior citizens, have not yet benefitted due to what he described as a cumbersome application process. Some applicants, he said, have not received prepaid water meters despite having applied, due to stock unavailability.
Gariseb further questioned whether the City has met its original debt-relief targets.
“They indicated they were owed N$1.2 billion and that N$524 million would be written off. A few months later, they reported writing off around N$134 million to N$138 million. If the commitment was N$524 million, then that full amount should be written off. Otherwise, it suggests they are behind on their own target,” he said.
He also alleged that the City altered some of the original conditions attached to the resolution. According to Gariseb, beneficiaries were required to apply formally, agree to continuous payment arrangements, and convert to prepaid water or electricity meters in order to qualify.
“Some residents asked what would happen if they preferred to remain on conventional electricity. They were told they would not qualify for the debt relief,” he added.
Gariseb further attributed the high debt levels to what he described as a defective billing and estimation system. He claimed some residents owed between N$80,000 and N$100,000 due to the estimated reading system, as well as being handed over to external debt collectors.
“Many of these residents survive on pensions of about N$1,600 per month. Even if 50% of the debt is written off, they are still left with balances they simply cannot afford,” he stated.
The debt situation has remained a longstanding challenge for many Windhoek residents, particularly senior citizens. In recent months, groups of residents have staged demonstrations and submitted petitions to the City, calling for broader debt relief and the waiving of arrears.
