A proposal to have Namibia’s urban housing crisis declared a national emergency has been tabled in the National Assembly amid a housing backlog estimated at more than 300 000 units.
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) parliamentarian Ottilie Haitota this week submitted a motion calling on president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to declare the urban housing crisis a national state of emergency.
The proposal aims to fast-track the servicing of urban land and to facilitate the construction of 100 000 housing units over the next four years.
The motion follows findings in the First National Bank’s First Quarter 2026 Housing Price Index Report, which showed the national average house price rising to N$1.44 million from N$1.42 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Haitota said housing affordability remains a major challenge, citing Bank of Namibia figures indicating that about 70% of the population cannot afford housing due to income constraints, while 75% of workers earn less than N$5 000 per month.
She argued that slow land servicing by local authorities has significantly contributed to the growing housing shortage.
“What is even more concerning is that the pace of servicing of land for residential purposes in our local authorities leaves much to be desired, and this has resulted in a massive housing backlog of more than 300 000 units across the country,” she said.
Haitota said only 4 698 residential plots were serviced during the 2025/26 financial year, far below the level required to meet demand.
Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia co-director Heinrich Amushila welcoms the motion, saying the housing situation remains a serious concern.
He notes that government support for housing and informal settlement upgrading increased during the 2025/26 financial year.
Amushila says the government allocated N$137 million to the federation for the construction of 3 106 houses currently under development in informal settlements.
He adds that the federation is also working with the Keetmanshoop Municipality to service more than 400 plots, and with the Otjiwarongo Municipality on 430 plots.
However, lawyer Uno Katjipuka questions the use of the term “state of emergency”, explaining that Article 26 of the Constitution provides for such a declaration only during a national disaster or public emergency threatening the life of the nation or constitutional order.
Katjipuka says Haitota may instead be advocating for the housing crisis to be declared a national crisis to allow the government to prioritise land servicing and mass housing delivery.
“A national crisis is not the same as a state of emergency as contemplated in the Constitution,” she says, adding that the motion may reflect a confusion in terminology rather than intent.
