Newly elected woman councillors target drugs, housing

This year’s regional council and local authority elections delivered more woman leaders than in 2020, expanding women’s representation across regions such as Hardap, Kavango West, Oshana and Omusati.

In 2020, 19 women were elected as councillors, while this year, 22 women have recently been elected as councillors.

Some women councillors The Namibian spoke to say they will focus on improving basic services and tackling social challenges affecting their communities.

In the Ohangwena region, Oshikango constituency councillor Ester Nghidimbwa says her priority is access to water and food security.

She plans to continue extending pipelines to villages where residents still walk long distances for water, and push for the upgrade of the Oshikango-Ondobe road to bitumen standard.

“Better roads and water will improve service delivery and economic opportunities,” she says.

In the ||Kharas region, !Nami≠Nüs councillor Susan Ndjaleka, who was re-elected for a second term, is pushing for a N$2.5 million special needs school at Lüderitz and stronger action against drug and alcohol abuse.

“Parents are at their wits’ end. We can no longer turn a blind eye,” she says.

Mariental Urban councillor Brenda Rooi says access to quality water, sanitation, rural electrification and proper roads remain of major concern.

She says she plans to work with the municipality and ministries to accelerate infrastructure upgrades. Rooi says women leaders often bring empathy and a practical understanding of household struggles.

“Social issues affect women and children the most, and I intend to prioritise them,” she says.

Former Otjozondjupa Regional Council chairperson and now member of parliament Marlene Mbakera says the growing number of women leaders shows that representation is no longer about fulfilling quotas.

She says competence is driving women forward.

“We are not coming empty-handed. We mean business,” she says, noting achievements in housing, community upgrades and her own rise in leadership.

Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah says the rise in woman councillors reflects shifting attitudes and party strategies.

“We have a woman president. Many candidates are taking the lead from there, and parties hope to replicate that success,” he says.

Swapo deputy secretary Uahekua Herunga says the party’s constitution includes gender equality as a law, because Swapo believes in equal opportunities for all.

“As long as a person has the talent, and can be moulded, is given exposure and is mentored, be they male or female, they can occupy any position,” he says.

He says Swapo does not dictate who should be voted for, and the democratic processes of elections produced the candidates who contested and who were successful.

Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) national secretary Christine !Aochamus says gender equality or women’s empowerment is not a policy issue at the IPC.

She says the party relies on safeguards such as existing legislation like the Regional and Local Authorities Act of 1992, which stipulates how many women should be on a local authority council.

She says the constitution of the party empowers the president to appoint candidates to certain levels of leadership, should the democratic process of internal elections fail to produce a list representative of the country.

“For example, if the list does not have youth, people living with disabilities or women, the president has the power to balance that list.

Thereafter, every leader is trained to ensure equal opportunities for patriots as we are saying no position should be out of reach for capable candidates,” !Aochamus says.

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