Deal With The Reasons For Aandonga Region
I WANT to put forward some practical suggestions, which do not involve creating an entirely new region. But before getting to that I would like to outline some reasons why those who proposed this region felt the need to bring their proposal forward.
First of all we should look at some of the reasons being raised by those who proposed this region. Those reasons involve development and service delivery within Ondangwa and all other surrounding villages within Ondangwa district.
Ondangwa being the oldest town within Oshana region as rightly reported still does not have a state hospital to this day, if residents need extensive medical care they have to go to Onanjukwe Lutheran hospital, which unfortunately is in dilapidated condition or alternatively travel to Oshakati State hospital.
Currently Oshakati and Ongwediva, both in Oshana region have some institutions of higher learning, and what does Ondangwa have? Not even a vocational training centre. Sometime last year I read in a daily that some Oshakati motorists were complaining about Oshakati’s roads being too congested and said it’s because too many ministries and state-owed enterprises have all set up offices at Oshakati, leading to people and motorists all flocking to Oshakati for these services.
The Governor of Oshana, Clemens Kashuupulwa, responded by saying: “Oshakati is the capital of the north, hence these ministerial offices and SOEs need to be here.” So then with such sentiments from the governor himself, can we really blame those who feel neglected and left behind in terms of economic growth and development and hence feeling the need to propose a new region for their communities?
I believe my suggestions are simple and practical: the Delimitation Committee can ask the residents of Ondangwa and all other communities who are included in the proposed region, if they perhaps prefer being incorporated into Oshikoto region instead and if they receive an overwhelming positive yes, then they can incorporate Ondangwa and other villages into Oshikoto Region.
This would mean that Oshikoto will now have 3 towns and perhaps ensure that development would be shared between Omuthiya and Ondangwa and not forgetting Tsumeb.
Another option is to keep Ondangwa and the surrounding villages in Oshana as it is, however central government and the Oshana Regional Council must spread the ministerial offices and other governmental institutions across Ondangwa and Oshakati, so that those in Ondangwa cannot always be the ones compelled to travel to Oshakati for services. In other words Ondangwa must also hold major offices and therefore balance off the current situation.
The fact remains that Oshakati would never have experienced the current tremendous economic growth and become the “the capital of the north” if all major governmental and private entities within the so-called ‘Four O regions’ were not all squeezed into Oshakati, several having been moved from Ondangwa.
Eliezser Vante-Kavela
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