Kavango East and West traditional leaders and community members are opposing NamWater’s proposed N$7-billion pipeline to Windhoek, demanding an audit of the Kavango River first.
This comes after a public consultation was held on NamWater’s proposed project last week.
Rundu Rural constituency councillor Paulus Mbangu on Saturday said residents, traditional leaders and regional authorities were not properly consulted during the planning stages of the project.
“How can you manage what you have not measured?
If NamWater has no idea how much water is in the Kavango River, how did they reach that conclusion?” he asked.
Mbangu said communities living along the river and in inland villages continue to struggle with water access, with some residents still relying on unsafe water sources despite the Kavango River flowing through the region.
He asked whether the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) had conducted an audit of the river, saying consultants failed to answer questions about the total volume of water available in the river.
Mbangu said the declining water levels observed over the years make it critical to establish how much water is available before any large-scale abstraction takes place.
As an alternative, he said the government must pursue desalination as a long-term solution to the country’s water challenges.
Mashare constituency councillor Petrus Kashumali over the weekend said residents from both regions have accused NamWater and its consultants of “institutional arrogance”.
He said high-level, proactive Cabinet decisions were made without genuinely consulting the regional leadership.
“Our hompas and fumu were not consulted, the regional political leaders were not consulted, communities living along the Kavango River were not consulted, and they only consulted those living along the Trans-Caprivi highway,” Kashumali said.
“It’s a big ‘no’, the Kavango link must not continue,” he said.
Kashumali said the government and NamWater should go back to the desalination plant idea, adding it is the only viable option to take water to the central regions.
‘THINKING OF TOMORROW’
Shambyu Traditional Authority leader Sofia Mundjembwe in the Kavango East region last week during public consultations at Rundu said community members are not opposed to the project, but fear the impact the project could have on the river.
“What will happen tomorrow or in the near future is the concern. People are looking at what comes next, not what is coming today,” she said.
Mundjembwe said the river holds cultural importance for local communities and should be preserved for future generations.
“We value the Kavango River as part of our heritage that must be reserved for our children and generations to come,” she said.
Mundjembwe pointed to the disappearance of floodplains, locally known as imbandi.
She described these as deep lake-like formations connected to the river system.
She said some of these water bodies were so deep that people have to use canoes to cross them and that three children had reportedly drowned in one of them years ago.
“At present, these limbandi no longer exist,” she said.
Mundjembwe said reducing river flows could affect fish populations and other ecological systems that support livelihoods in the region.
The traditional leader asked whether alternative solutions had been adequately considered, including the drilling of additional boreholes for communities and farmers expected to benefit from the project.
She said such alternatives could potentially provide water without putting additional pressure on the river.
NamWater spokesperson Lot Ndamanomhata on Saturday hung up the phone when called for comment.
