City leaders re-elected

THE election of Windhoek’s political leaders for the next year produced no surprises on Friday, as the municipality top brass remained unchanged.

Matheus Shikongo was re-elected as Mayor, while Deputy Mayor Elaine Trepper and management council members Bjorn von Finkenstein, Joseph Shikongo, Linia Shaetonhodi, Gerson Kamatuka and Agnes Kafula also retained their positions. Prime Minister Nahas Angula told the council on Friday that he hoped this continuity would not prove to be an indication that it would be “business as usual” in the council chambers.Angula, who congratulated the council members on their re-election, warned them not to get complacent, but rather to show innovation in their duty of improving the quality of life of Windhoek residents.The Prime Minister specifically expressed concern about the lack of recreational facilities for children living in the city’s suburbs, a lack of open market facilities for informal businesses, and the price of property in Windhoek.”I ask myself, if Namibia is a land of open spaces as the airlines would have us believe, why can’t we build parks?” the Prime Minister asked.”Because of a lack of space, children are playing soccer in the streets.Let’s consider the quality of life for those in Katutura and Khomasdal,” Angula said to cheers from members of the public who attended the ceremony.He added that Windhoek’s cleanliness was often used as an excuse for not developing certain areas, but called for more open markets to be created to provide informal business owners with better areas from which to ply their trade.Angula said he was unhappy about the cost of property, which has resulted in “the rich buying up all the property to the exclusion of everyone else”.”Make sure that money doesn’t talk all day, every day,” he said.He also asked the council to consider giving pensioners a discount on their municipal bills.In reply, Shikongo said it was perhaps time for many of the laws that governed the municipality to be revised, as these laws made some of the Prime Minister’s requests difficult to implement.”Since its inception, council has been very careful to review laws and by-laws,” he said, lobbying for the co-operation of different Government sectors.”If you do something in isolation, you might find yourself on the receiving end,” he said.Prime Minister Nahas Angula told the council on Friday that he hoped this continuity would not prove to be an indication that it would be “business as usual” in the council chambers.Angula, who congratulated the council members on their re-election, warned them not to get complacent, but rather to show innovation in their duty of improving the quality of life of Windhoek residents.The Prime Minister specifically expressed concern about the lack of recreational facilities for children living in the city’s suburbs, a lack of open market facilities for informal businesses, and the price of property in Windhoek.”I ask myself, if Namibia is a land of open spaces as the airlines would have us believe, why can’t we build parks?” the Prime Minister asked.”Because of a lack of space, children are playing soccer in the streets.Let’s consider the quality of life for those in Katutura and Khomasdal,” Angula said to cheers from members of the public who attended the ceremony.He added that Windhoek’s cleanliness was often used as an excuse for not developing certain areas, but called for more open markets to be created to provide informal business owners with better areas from which to ply their trade.Angula said he was unhappy about the cost of property, which has resulted in “the rich buying up all the property to the exclusion of everyone else”.”Make sure that money doesn’t talk all day, every day,” he said.He also asked the council to consider giving pensioners a discount on their municipal bills.In reply, Shikongo said it was perhaps time for many of the laws that governed the municipality to be revised, as these laws made some of the Prime Minister’s requests difficult to implement.”Since its inception, council has been very careful to review laws and by-laws,” he said, lobbying for the co-operation of different Government sectors.”If you do something in isolation, you might find yourself on the receiving end,” he said.