Sport ministry heeds VP’s call on stadium renovations

Sport ministry executive director Erastus Haitangela says they will comply with the directive given by vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to renovate the Independence Stadium in Windhoek.

Nandi-Ndaitwah criticised the Ministry of Sport, Youth, and National Service at Oshakati on Friday for failing to start renovations on the Independence Stadium.

She said the ministry undertook in writing that renovations would commence on 28 August this year, with the appointment of a contractor, but this has not happened. “Her excellency Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has spoken and we have taken note of what her excellency stated and we will comply as directed,” Haitangela says.

He says the ministry has taken note of Namibians’ frustrations about the current situation of the country’s flagship stadium.

Namibia hosts its international home matches in neighbouring South Africa, as the Confederation of African Football deregistered the country’s dilapidated and outdated stadiums.

According to Haitengela, the ministry is working to finalise the appointment of a lead consultant, despite procurement process challenges the ministry has been facing, which has resulted in delays.

“All the necessary steps need to be followed; any missteps might result in the cancellation of the whole process again.

Therefore, it was very important to ensure that we consult all the relevant stakeholders to help the ministry in preparing the bidding document correctly,” he says. Haitengela says the public will be informed appropriately once the ministry has finalised the process.

“The ministry regrets the inconvenience caused by this delay,” he says.

Political analyst Rui Tyitende says Nandi-Ndaitwah’s public comments on Friday were an attempt to fool the public that she is concerned about the state of the stadium.

“Why would she castigate her colleague in a public forum if they regularly meet during Cabinet meetings where she could have probed if she was really concerned? This is a pure election gimmick and any thinking Namibian should not take her seriously,” Tyitende says. He says there are so many incomplete government buildings, but there was no fuss about them.

“Why? Is it because she made an unrealistic promise that the Brave Warriors would play their next match at home? It is election season and we should expect politicians to say anything under the sun that they think will resonate with the public,” he says.

Political analyst Henning Melber says Nandi-Ndaitwah’s comments are another example of the Namibian election campaign disease.

“The vice president tried her best to turn the embarrassment into an opportunity to save face and gain recognition for the appeal to always stick to truth. But truth in electioneering is a relative category, which campaigners from different parties find hard to comply with,” he says.