Okahandja protesters want Mayor back

OUSTED Okahandja Mayor Christofine Paulus can at least count on the support of around 25 residents who yesterday marched up and down the steps leading to the municipality, demanding her return to the local authority.

The group marched to the municipality hall in the morning, and remained camped there for most of the day, urging other community members to join them. At around 14h30, they handed over a petition to the municipality’s Human Resources Manager David Diener.The residents, mostly from the informal areas of Oshetu Number One, Oshetu Number Two and Saamstaan, took exception to the removal of Mayor Paulus, her deputy Constancia Kahengombe, Management Committee Chairperson Hillaria Shilimetindi and council member Johannes Nande.They demanded reasons for the four’s removal, saying that the community had been responsible for placing them in their positions.”Four-thousand-seven-hundred voted for the previous council, now only 30 decided on this new council?” group spokesperson Joseph Gaeseb said, shaking his head.Another group member, Kephas Petrus, said his main concern was the infighting between Swapo members in the local authority.”They can argue as much as they want there in their party, but we as a community want service,” he said.Service, he said, had been lacking at the town because of councillors being preoccupied with their own personal squabbles.Urging The Namibian to take a look at conditions in “the garden town’s” informal settlements, Petrus showed the newspaper a number of areas filled with rubbish, which he said the municipality had failed to address.”They get hundreds of dollars from Government to clean this place up, but there are no results,” Petrus said.In their petition, the group appealed to Otjozondjupa Governor Theo Eiseb and Local Government Minister John Pandeni to reinstate the four ousted councillors.”We the community (were) not consulted about the position of Mrs Paulus and no reason was given to us, therefore we want to know the reasons,” the group states.”We had a trust in Mrs Paulus, who always listened to the problems of the communities …Her presence all the time (in) the community (was) highly appreciated.”Last week, four nominees were named to replace the four ousted councillors.They are Paul Damaseb, Christene Nuuhe, Gabriel Shelefila and Dawid Urikop.The demonstrators referred to these nominees as a “coup” council.They further appealed to the Anti-Corruption Commission to look into the affairs of the town council.At around 14h30, they handed over a petition to the municipality’s Human Resources Manager David Diener.The residents, mostly from the informal areas of Oshetu Number One, Oshetu Number Two and Saamstaan, took exception to the removal of Mayor Paulus, her deputy Constancia Kahengombe, Management Committee Chairperson Hillaria Shilimetindi and council member Johannes Nande.They demanded reasons for the four’s removal, saying that the community had been responsible for placing them in their positions.”Four-thousand-seven-hundred voted for the previous council, now only 30 decided on this new council?” group spokesperson Joseph Gaeseb said, shaking his head.Another group member, Kephas Petrus, said his main concern was the infighting between Swapo members in the local authority.”They can argue as much as they want there in their party, but we as a community want service,” he said.Service, he said, had been lacking at the town because of councillors being preoccupied with their own personal squabbles.Urging The Namibian to take a look at conditions in “the garden town’s” informal settlements, Petrus showed the newspaper a number of areas filled with rubbish, which he said the municipality had failed to address.”They get hundreds of dollars from Government to clean this place up, but there are no results,” Petrus said.In their petition, the group appealed to Otjozondjupa Governor Theo Eiseb and Local Government Minister John Pandeni to reinstate the four ousted councillors.”We the community (were) not consulted about the position of Mrs Paulus and no reason was given to us, therefore we want to know the reasons,” the group states.”We had a trust in Mrs Paulus, who always listened to the problems of the communities …Her presence all the time (in) the community (was) highly appreciated.”Last week, four nominees were named to replace the four ousted councillors.They are Paul Damaseb, Christene Nuuhe, Gabriel Shelefila and Dawid Urikop. The demonstrators referred to these nominees as a “coup” council.They further appealed to the Anti-Corruption Commission to look into the affairs of the town council.