The Grootfontein municipality says its limited financial resources have made it difficult to implement most of the capital projects outlined in its five-year strategic plan.
Chief executive Indileni Lungameni last month told The Namibian that the municipality requires about N$247 million to carry out the projects listed in the 2023–2028 strategic plan, but only N$23 million was approved for the current capital budget.
“The projected monetary resources required to implement strategic capital projects as outlined in the strategic plan (2023–2028) amounts to N$247 million. Implementing these projects cannot be funded with a N$23-million approved capital budget alone but requires massive investment from both the central government and the private sector,” Lungameni said.
Despite the shortfall, Lungameni said some progress has been made, including the near completion of the fire station, the start of work on an infrastructure master plan, and the readiness of 65 single-quarter houses for handover to beneficiaries.
According to Lungameni, the council has approved the development of two recreational parks and has used Road Fund Administration funds for periodic road maintenance.
Lungameni noted that revenue collection remains one of the council’s main challenges.
“The rollout of prepaid water meters and standpipes is a key initiative to improve revenue collection. The council has also extended incentives to debtors to service their accounts in exchange for a percentage of their debts to be written off,” he added.
Lungameni said the council’s ability to collect revenue remains a major challenge.
“The challenges highlighted in the letter are the same across all 57 local authorities. As usual, we remind residents to pay their bills and settle their outstanding debts of more than N$200 million for the council to build the open market, taxi ranks and roads they are demanding,” he said.
According to him, it is unfair that the minority of residents who pay their municipal bills must subsidise the non-paying majority.
The municipality’s financial struggles have renewed calls from residents for accountability and improved service delivery.
Grootfontein resident Abraham Pombili recently accused the town council of poor financial management and weak project implementation, saying earlier recommendations from the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development have been ignored.
“The council’s continued failure to address issues raised as far back as 2021 shows a pattern of negligence and disregard for transparency,” he said.
He said residents have grown frustrated by the absence of visible progress on long-promised projects such as the open market, taxi ranks and internal road upgrades.
“We have been hearing about these projects for years, but there is nothing to show for it. People continue to pay for services they do not receive,” Pombili said. Resident Selma Nghilalua who is a street vendor, says the delay in completing the open market continues to hurt informal traders.
“We sell in the sun and rain because the council keeps saying there’s no money. Yet, the same problems are repeated every year,” she says.
The concerns echo earlier warnings from the law firm Kangueehi & Kavendjii Incorporated, which in June 2021 issued a legal advisory to the Grootfontein municipality after reviewing a ministerial investigation into maladministration and irregularities between 2015 and 2019.
The firm’s memorandum, signed by Clive Kavendjii, cited serious governance lapses across key areas such as financial management, land allocation and project supervision.
It urged the council to take immediate remedial action and implement all recommendations from the ministry “without fail”.
