For more than a week traffic at the town was disrupted while Council workers laboured around the clock to tar the road in preparation for a gala ceremony at which the President was expected to officiate.

During the retarring, residents were forced to take lengthy detours through dusty back roads to get from one side of town to the other - normally a three-minute drive.

But as the exhausted workmen were hanging up the sparkling new road signs, red-faced Council officials realised they had forgotten to send an invitation to State House.

So far no-one has taken responsibility for the embarrassing bungle.

Town Clerk Jerry Shangadi said the Council had never instructed him to invite the President to the renaming ceremony.

"The Council was supposed to instruct me.

I can't just jump up and do things.

There is a special committee of the Council that is responsible for that," he said on Tuesday.

He said the ceremony was called off because the President could not fit Keetmanshoop into his schedule, even though he visited the South on official business last week.

"He will come back in the next two months," Shangadi said.

A Councillor, who asked not to be named, said that once the resolution was taken to rename the street it was up to the Municipal management to organise the details of the ceremony and to send out invitations.

A telephone call was made to State House by "someone" in the Municipality, but the President's office insisted on an official invitation, he said.

But the invitation was never sent and the renaming ceremony never made it onto the President's schedule.

Now the street boasts a new name and sparkling new signs - but it will be another two months before the name change becomes official.

"Can you believe it?" was the reaction of restaurant owner Brenda Theron when she learned that the traffic chaos was all in vain.

Theron's business is just off the main street and her house is within a few minutes walking distance.

But for over a week she either had to drive along the pavement or take a lengthy back route to get home after work.

"At least we've got a beautifully tarred main road in double quick time," she added with a chuckle.

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