President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah applied to buy municipal land in Windhoek’s Auasblick area three weeks after a naked intruder was discovered inside State House.
The item, now before the City of Windhoek, covers six plots, about 1.8 hectares.
The six erven include three residential plots of about 4 700, 5 800 and 4 300 square metres, and three zoned for business – two of about 1 000 square metres each and one of about 1 400 square metres.
The application, dated 21 May and made in her private capacity, is revealed in leaked documents from a City of Windhoek council meeting.
This was the president’s second attempt within a month.
Nandi-Ndaitwah’s first application, dated 7 May – a week after the security breach – sought to buy three plots and another portion to consolidate into a single erf about of 8 000 square metres.
That application could not proceed because the erven are not serviced.
“The president viewed the intrusion as a direct and credible threat to her personal safety as head of state. Consequently, the president promptly relocated to her private house where she presently commutes from to State House daily,” council documents say.
“The security breach that occurred at State House, more specifically at the official residence of the president of the Republic of Namibia, was widely reported in various media outlets – and as such, requires no further elaborative text,” reads the council document.
An inside source has confirmed the document.
“Councillors asked why the rush and all of a sudden they wanted to do it on camera,” the source says.
According to the source, most opposition councillors declined to vote in favour of the application, which is scheduled for another hearing tomorrow for councillors to decide on the matter.
The intended security corridor is incomplete without including all erven as per the application request at Auasblick, the document says.
However, responding to The Namibian, city spokesperson Harold Akwenye yesterday cautioned that the document has not yet been authenticated and should not be interpreted as a council decision.
The document, purportedly an extract from a special municipal council agenda dated 20 August, proposes the consolidation of all three ervens at Auasblick, on Jason H Ndadi Street, to enhance security.
The properties are located around Jason H Ndadi, Visp and Engelberg streets and are currently vacant and unoccupied, according to site inspections conducted on 21 May and 17 July.
The document says the application by Nandi-Ndaitwah would be the second application by a sitting president for residential land from the city.
It identifies former president Hifikepunye Pohamba as the first sitting president to apply to the council for residential land.
Pohamba’s application was reportedly considered by the council, which later confirmed the selling price for the incorporated erf following the required cadastral procedures.
The document distinguishes Nandi-Ndaitwah’s application from Pohamba’s, citing the security threat posed to a sitting president.
Giano Seibeb (29) breached security checkpoints and was found naked inside a guest house at State House in Windhoek on 30 April.
He was subsequently arrested, charged with trespassing and housebreaking, and later declared legally unfit to stand trial due to schizophrenia.
Akwenye, however, said the municipality could not authenticate or confirm the document based solely on a copy circulating on social media.
“The appearance of a matter on a council agenda does not mean that council has approved an application or taken a final decision on it,” he said.
Akwenye said the municipality would need to verify the official council record before confirming the document’s authenticity or commenting substantively on its contents.
“Given the nature and sensitivity of the matter, I would need to verify the official council record before confirming the authenticity of the document or commenting substantively on its contents,” he said.
He stressed that an agenda item should not be interpreted as a final council decision.
The Presidency did not respond to questions about the document, saying it could not confirm its authenticity.
The Namibian reported in February that State House was reviewing the law that grants perks to former presidents.
There was speculation at the time that Nandi-Ndaitwah wants to end the practice.
People familiar with her thinking say she opposes the allocation of state-funded mansions to former presidents and favours accepting a portion of the benefits to build her own retirement home instead.
The ongoing review of the Former Presidents’ Pension and Other Benefits Act will also consider broadening the benefits to vice presidents.
The government has spent N$152 million on mansions for four former presidents. This includes N$43 million for Sam Nujoma, N$35 million for Pohamba, N$36 million for Hage Geingob and N$38 million for Nangolo Mbumba.
