…say they will not move until minister hears their cry
Several disgruntled residents of Okahandja’s informal settlements have taken their frustrations to the Okahandja Municipality, camping outside the municipal offices in a protest yesterday.
Some of the protestors brought blankets, tents and cooking pots as a sign that they were spending the night outside the municipality.
Their demands include the provision of basic services such as water, electricity and proper sanitation facilities.
“We will sleep here until the minister of urban and rural development, Erastus Uutoni, attends to us and listens to our demands, because for so long we have handed over petitions to the council but nothing has been done,” says one of the residents and community activist Sethy Gariseb.
Those that are protesting belong to some of Okahandja’s poorest informal settlement such as Vergenoeg, RCC Camp, Promise Land, Saam Staan, Oshetu Number 1, 2 and 3, Sweet Village, Dom Lokasi and Ekunde 6.
They are demanding immediate action from the municipal authorities, the town council and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.
Gariseb told The Namibian yesterday that they have been demonstrating for the past six years and their elders fought long before that, but the government has not taken them seriously.
“We are tired and angry at being treated like third-class citizens. We are only important during election season, but our concerns are never addressed, we are just given empty promises year in and year out,” Gariseb said.
Despite their continuous pleas, they claim their needs have been neglected by local authorities, leaving them to live in deplorable conditions.
In the statement they wish to present to the urban and rural development minister, the residents demanded answers on the fate of funds that were allegedly collected by the municipality for upgrading informal settlements.
“They asked us to each pay N$165 per household which they will use to upgrade our poor services but nothing changed,” he said.
The residents say the municipality opened an account with First National Bank on 3 January specifically for this purpose and they have been contributing N$165 per household. However, they have yet to see any tangible progress.
“What is the update on that account? Where is that money?” asks another resident in their demand letter to the minister.
“We want to know when our issues, which have been on your table for years, will be addressed. We have been patient with all of you for way too long,” the letter reads.
The people of the Promise Land informal settlement say they were advised by councillors to buy pipes to bring water to their area, but to date, there is still no water.
“We want water points so that people can have access to water as soon as possible,” they say.
The protestors have made it clear they will not leave until they receive satisfactory answers.
“If we don’t get answers today, we are sleeping over here. We will sleep here until we are heard and taken seriously. We have been to the president but got sent back, so we believe you can solve our problems, you just don’t want to.”
In addition to their demand for basic services, the residents are calling for improved land ownership rights, better roads for emergency services and enhanced security measures, including the establishment of a mobile police station within the community.
They have also highlighted concerns about the town’s deteriorating conditions, including garbage management and rampant crime.
“The town mayor, the governor and the councillor should get involved in community matters,” one protestor says.
“They don’t have a clue about the livelihoods of the informal settlement residents.”
According to Okahandja deputy mayor Akser Aupindi, the municipality is unable to comment on the matter because the residents refused to hand over their petition.
“When I went there to receive the petition, they refused to give me the petition, because maybe they wanted the petition or their demand to be received by the mayor and the minister,” he says.
He says the council does not have a mandate to force the minister to come here, nor to receive anything belonging to the minister.
“I have no idea what is on that demand, because I have never seen that letter of demand. I didn’t and I never received it, so I can not respond on the matter,” he says.
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