Khomas governor Sam Nujoma has distanced himself from his promises to build 5 000 houses in one year, saying the target is part of the Swapo election manifesto and not a personal commitment.In April this year, the newly appointed government promised to build 5 000 houses.
“However, the scale and urgency of the housing crisis, especially in the informal settlements, require a multi-pronged approach,” he was quoted by Namibian Sun as saying.
“With nearly 47% of Khomas region households residing in impoverished housing units in informal settlements, delivering 5 000 new serviced plots and housing units responds directly to this pressing need,”
The Namibian approached Nujoma for comment on his promise – which he now seems to have abandoned.
“Let me clarify something: that 5 000 housing units is not my promise, it’s a government promise (from the Swapo manifesto).”The 5 000 was promised long before I became governor. So we are just responsible for the implementation plan,” says the governor.
Over 2 000 mass housing units in Windhoek remain unoccupied, which Nujoma described as a response to a crisis that demands urgency and scale.
He said the construction was approved by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development. However, the housing units are the responsibility of the City of Windhoek, not the governor’s office, he says.
Nujoma explains that the back and forth between the City of Windhoek and the line ministry is delaying the servicing of the land.
He said it was projected that 10 000 housing units across the country would be built, with 5 000 in the Khomas region.
“They need to start with servicing of land which is taking a bit long,” the governor noted. “I have oversight powers over the local authorities and what the ministry wants to implement in the region as governor, but the office of the governor does not build houses.”
Earlier this year, Nujoma told a workshop with executive directors that implementation plans would be adopted before the new administration took office.Prime minister Elijah Ngurare gave the Khomas region one week to finalise its informal settlement plan.
In April this year the media quoted Nujoma as saying the government was committed to constructing 5 000 houses over 12 months in the Khomas region alone. He did not distance himself from these reports.
The initiative forms part of efforts to formalise informal settlements in urban areas of the region.
THAT’S THEIR OPINION
Asked to comment on what his ministry is doing to address the housing crisis and to respond to criticisms from opposition parties, minister of rural and urban development James Sankwasa responded: “Those are their views.””They are entitled to their views. I am not answering anything beyond that,” the minister told The Namibian yesterday.During the Swapo election manifesto launch in Windhoek last year, president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said 10 000 plots will be serviced annually for the construction of low and medium-cost houses, by strengthening the Build Together Programme and supporting the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia.
LIP SERVICE
Popular Democratic Movement parliamentarian Inna Hengari says Sankwasa has so far done little or nothing to indicate progress in addressing the housing shortage.
“It is surely a dehumanising crisis. Housing prices are terribly inflated and there’s little being said and done in terms of policy,” she says.
Hengari says her party has made numerous recommendations, such as appointing a rent control board. Though she considers this a temporary fix, it would signal the administration’s commitment.
She says permanent solutions include making access to serviced “affordable” land a reality for ordinary Namibians.
National Unity Democratic Organisation member of parliament Vetaruhe Kandorozu yesterday claimed that Sankwa has started a personal fight in his home region of the Zambezi with the Katima Mulilo Town Council, suggesting his recent firing of councillors was a subjective decision due to issues he has with the council.
“Sankwasa never addressed the issue of land sales in urban areas. Why is land in all urban areas so expensive in Namibia?” he asked.
He said he saw Sankwasa complaining about market-related prices within local authorities when, as the minister, he should be solving the problem.
UNDERFUNDED
According to Kandorozu, the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) remains one of the most underfunded institutions, adding that it remains inefficient in collecting money from clients to construct more houses for those that have been on their list for 30 years.”Sankwasa never gave consideration to issues of mass housing projects. He never came up with the blueprint on what his intentions were with informal settlements,” he said.
Kandorozu added that Sankwasa had never engaged with local authorities on issues such as boundary problems, compensation for residents displaced by development or the uncertain fate of those affected.
He said companies are utilising land on the periphery of towns to avoid paying rates, taxes and municipal levies, while local government and regional councils remain underfunded.
He also complained about the emergence of potholes everywhere, while Sankwasa had failed to engage with the road fund or the works ministry to help towns with road maintenance.
Kandorozu said some towns are experiencing electricity cuts, while there is no one to report to because the minister does not have time to listen to the difficulties of communities.
“All he is doing is fighting with elected councillors,” Kandorozu said.
NOTHING WRONG
Swanu of Namibia president Evilastus Kaaronda says Sankwasa is trying to clean up a system which, according to him, is dysfunctional because of incompetence and the mismanagement of resources by the previous regime.
“You can’t really blame the minister for not having delivered on the urgent need for housing,” he says. “Even if money were to be allocated for housing purposes, in the established culture of nepotism and corruption, you would still not have those houses delivered.”
Kaaronda adds that although the minister has not yet delivered on housing, he is not wrong for trying to clean up the system.
According to him, housing in Namibia must not be viewed only with an urban bias. “You cannot simply want to build houses in urban settlements when the majority of our citizens live in rural areas,” he says.
Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters deputy president Kalimbo Iipumbu says ministers in the current administration are not doing anything other than backstabbing each other. He says Sankwasa is only busy naming and shaming those who corruptly use their offices, rather than delivering on housing.
“He was put in that position to listen to the pleas of the people and to try to improve their living standards. There is actually nothing happening.
“We still see those houses built under the mass housing project standing unoccupied. I thought he would come up with a proper mechanism for how these houses could be fully equipped and handed over to the people,” he says.
The previous government-led mass housing programme delivered 4 380 units over a decade, while the NHE has built 18 304 homes in 31 years, from 1993 to 2024.
According to 2023 data, approximately 47% of Khomas households, roughly 231 970 people, live in makeshift housing or shacks.
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