City clarifies debt write-off programme

The City of Windhoek yesterday clarified its debt relief programme amid claims by chairperson of the Katutura Residents Committee Benestus Kandundu that it was only planning to write-off interest as a way to avoid engaging the committee.

“The City announced to ordinary people that there will be a debt write off and sparked excitement across Katutura, while in fact, it is only interest that will be written off,” Kandundu said in an interview with Desert Radio.

“They are doing this as a way of running away from the Katutura Residents Committee’s request for a roundtable constructive dialogue and reasonable time for engagement because they have their own agenda,” Kandundu said.

Yesterday, the municipality maintained that, contrary to Kandundu’s claims, it has been diligently working on a debt relief plan for over a year, even before the Katutura Residents Committee approached them with their request.

“The Windhoek Municipal Council officially approved the N$524 million debt write-off programme at its meeting on 30 November 2023, with specific terms and conditions. One of them is that the debt write-off only covers debts incurred until 30 November 2023, and any subsequent debts must be paid in full to qualify for the programme,” the municipality’s corporate communications department maintained.

The municipality stressed that pensioners will get a 100% debt write-off on both the capital and interest amounts if they have applied for pre-paid water and electricity meters.

“The condition of installing prepaid services is important to ensure future debt management, preventing the accumulation of debts they cannot pay. The council cannot write off debts indefinitely,” the City of Windhoek noted in a statement.

The municipality further revealed that non-pensioners (businesses, residential and other debtors) will get a 50% debt cancellation on interest only, if they pay the outstanding principal amount within 6 to 12 months.

The municipality maintained that the primary goal of this programme is to provide support to residents during the difficult economic times and to adhere to accounting standards, as some debts have become irrecoverable.

“We urge the Katutura Residents Committee to seek clarification on the approved debt write-off, instead of spreading false information about the programme that is aimed at providing relief to residents,” noted the municipality.

Council last wrote off debt for pensioners and vulnerable residents in 2018 amounting to N$191 million. Since then, the debt book has grown to N$1,2 billion in 2022 and has since stabilised.