Construction of Ndama school to begin in January after delays

The construction of Ndama East Primary School at Rundu will finally begin in January, with 25 new classrooms, facilities, and infrastructure set to benefit nearly 600 pupils and local residents.

Consultation with the then Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture to formalise the school began in 2023 already.

Kavango East regional chairperson and Mukwe constituency councillor Damian Maghambayi says the reason for the delay in constructing the school is unknown.

He says recommendations were submitted to then-minister Anna Nghipondoka.

This comes as the government last week said it would construct 25 classrooms at the school after a high-profile delegation, led by Kavango East governor Hamunyera Hambyuka, prime minister Elijah Ngurare, and the minister of education, youth, sport, arts, and culture, Sanet Steenkamp, visited the school.

Hambyuka said the government has approved the construction of the new classrooms, an administration block, ablution facilities, and a perimeter fence at the village school.

Additionally, an access road will be built to enhance connectivity, and pipes from a nearby borehole will be extended to supply both the school and nearby households with water, directly benefiting nearly 600 pupils and residents.

As a temporary measure during construction, the government has committed to erecting tents to ensure learning continues uninterrupted.

The project is expected to be completed by January. The community welcomed the announcement.

Ngurare encouraged residents to trust their leaders and rally around a shared national vision.

“We started with several consultations, not only in 2024, but in 2023 I think. We directed the minister to construct this school,” Maghambayi said last week.

He said the ministry acknowledged the recommendations.

“The response we received from the former minister is that our request was considered. That is why we kept quiet, knowing it will be different,” he said.

“The regional leaders have already taken the decision that the school should be recognised, formalised, and built,” he said.

Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah says the regional council’s silence embodies poor organisational culture and communication between the regional leaders and the ministry.

“. . . breakdown in communication, coordination, breakdown in follow-up when you initiate something . . . From both ends, the regional council did not follow up to see the progress, and the minister did not communicate – that is the disease we have here,” he says.

Kamwanyah says most ministry systems and regional councils suffer from poor organisational culture.

He says the ministry’s resolution was only taken after the dire situation at the school was exposed.

Action Democratic Movement leader Vincent Kanyetu stresses weak regional leadership. “I have been talking about the foolishness, weakness and useless type of leadership.

This is a very clear demonstration that there is no vision when it comes to regional leadership,” he says. Kanyetu says leaders have become politically confused. “. . . to the extent that we don’t even understand what the word ‘governance’ really means,” he says.

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