Kavango East spends N$124m on school renovations

ELIASER NDEYANALE and ENOKE KAUMBA KAVANGO East region last year spent N$124 million on the renovation of two schools.

Linus Shashipapo Secondary School was renovated for N$91 million and Andara Combined School for N$33m, Kavango East region governor Bonifatius Wakudumo revealed in his state of the region address last Friday.

He also said three early childhood development centres were constructed in the region at a cost of N$3,3 million.

“A model early childhood development centre was also constructed at Rundu Urban constituency at a cost of N$2 million, while two single classrooms were constructed in Ndonga Linena and Mashare constituencies at a cost of 
N$800 000,” he said.

Justifying the amounts spent on the two schools, the governor told : “Andara had major renovation of existing structures and expansions like laboratories, libraries and new administration offices. Linus Shashipapo was in a dilapidated state, so it had to undergo major renovations of all the physical infrastructure and adding new ones.”

Despite the disruption caused by Covid-19 to the education system, the governor commended St Boniface and Rukonga Vision School, which were among the top 10 performing schools in the country in the public and private sector.

Furthermore, the governor indicated that in the period under review (2021/2021), the Kavango East region received N$216 687 000. “The Kavango East Regional Council spent N$1 584 616.00 on 44 income-generating projects supporting 186 beneficiaries, which translates into the same number of permanent jobs being created,” he reported.

Wakudumo lauded the work of all frontline workers under essential services in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Kavango East reactivated a regional disaster risk management committee to help deal with the surge in Covid-19 cases. My office initiated a weekly update meeting to complement the risk management committee,” Wakudumo said.

However, All People’s Party secretary general Vincent Kanyetu criticised the Kavango East state of the region address speech, saying it lacked direction “in terms of how we will deal with the challenges faced by the region going forward”.

According to Kanyetu, no proper account was given on jobs lost due to Covid; agriculture was not addressed properly in terms of the land being used to the benefit of the region and education. Despite the pandemic, there is still a problem of water, he said.

He said the government’s agricultural projects in the region are not sustaining the region. “We have to make these projects profitable and productive. We don’t want to get cabbage from Grootfontein or Kombat or Otavi,” he added.

An English lecturer at the University of Namibia’s Rundu campus, Gerson Sindano, in his analysis of the speech, said: “The governor presented a thorough account of what has been happening in the region.”

He commended some of the undertakings the government accomplished, but said more clarity was needed in creating a conducive environment for small and medium enterprises.