Ongwediva CEO laid to rest

THE Chief Executive Officer of Ongwediva, Auguste Namupala Taanyanda (44) who died in the Rhino Park Hospital in Windhoek last Wednesday, was buried at Ontananga in the Oshikoto Region yesterday.

The crowd of mourners included Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Governors, regional and town councillors and chief executive officers of other towns. Agriculture Minister Helmut Angula told the mourners in a packed church that it was Taanyanda’s wish to be buried at Ontananga, her home village, and not in Ongwediva where she worked.”She preferred Ontananga because she is from here and many of her family and relatives have been buried in the Ontananga cemetery,” Angula said.Speaker after speaker spoke highly of Taanyanda.Ongwediva Mayor Erastus Uutoni praised the late Taanyanda as a no-nonsense woman, but also a soft-hearted person who could understand people’s problems and also help them.Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula said he had been disappointed to hear that some Ongwediva residents were glad to hear of the death of Taanyanda and even celebrated it.”I know those who celebrated her death are those who don’t want to sacrifice for what they are getting and always want to be given things free, to have a free lunch in town.This cannot be done and I am calling on all residents in town to accept sacrifice, to pay for the services they are getting from their local authorities, such as to pay for water, electricity sewerage and refuse removal and so on.”Angula added that Ongwediva was one of the top towns in Namibia or in Africa with a clean environment and this was because of late Taanyanda who had run an exemplary administration.She had helped make Ongwediva one of the best-administered towns in Namibia.The late Taanyanda, who was Ongwediva Chief Executive Officer since 1993, is survived by her only daughter Isabella, her mother Salmi Thomas (Gwatoma), a brother and several sisters.Agriculture Minister Helmut Angula told the mourners in a packed church that it was Taanyanda’s wish to be buried at Ontananga, her home village, and not in Ongwediva where she worked.”She preferred Ontananga because she is from here and many of her family and relatives have been buried in the Ontananga cemetery,” Angula said.Speaker after speaker spoke highly of Taanyanda.Ongwediva Mayor Erastus Uutoni praised the late Taanyanda as a no-nonsense woman, but also a soft-hearted person who could understand people’s problems and also help them.Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula said he had been disappointed to hear that some Ongwediva residents were glad to hear of the death of Taanyanda and even celebrated it.”I know those who celebrated her death are those who don’t want to sacrifice for what they are getting and always want to be given things free, to have a free lunch in town.This cannot be done and I am calling on all residents in town to accept sacrifice, to pay for the services they are getting from their local authorities, such as to pay for water, electricity sewerage and refuse removal and so on.”Angula added that Ongwediva was one of the top towns in Namibia or in Africa with a clean environment and this was because of late Taanyanda who had run an exemplary administration.She had helped make Ongwediva one of the best-administered towns in Namibia.The late Taanyanda, who was Ongwediva Chief Executive Officer since 1993, is survived by her only daughter Isabella, her mother Salmi Thomas (Gwatoma), a brother and several sisters.