Omuthiya constituency regional councillor Erastus Nekomba has warned against the neglect and exploitation of elderly people after routine household visits this week uncovered two instances of pensioners living under dire conditions.
Nekomba said the old-age grant was introduced to help senior citizens live with dignity, but some relatives are instead using vulnerable pensioners for their own benefit.
During a visit to Oshiya Shomatope village earlier this week, Nekomba and officials from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, including a social worker, and members of the Namibian Police found the home of an 80-year-old woman in a poor state, describing it as a health hazard.
The pensioner said she lives with 10 family members, including grandchildren whose mother works in Windhoek, and that the household depends on her pension grant.
“I gave them N$2 000 to buy building materials, but up to now I have not received anything. I am still sleeping in my old room, which you can see is not conducive,” she said.
She alleged that her granddaughter and the granddaughter’s boyfriend began building within her yard without respecting her wishes.
Councillor Nekomba responded by donating corrugated metal sheets to help build a new room for the elderly woman and pledged drought relief food for the household.
The granddaughter, meanwhile, denied her grandmother’s claims, saying that she obtained approval from the village headman for the building work. She added that family members had created a WhatsApp group to raise funds for the room.
Officials advised the family to improve cleanliness and cooperate in completing the new room using the donated materials.
The delegation later visited an 88-year-old woman at Omalindi village, where another case of alleged neglect was reported.
The pensioner told officials that her youngest daughter took her NamPost debit card, through which she receives her pension, before moving to Okahandja in May. She said she received only N$800 from her pension last month and struggles to cover basic needs.
Officials were informed that she had gone several days without a proper meal because there was no food in the house.
“I need the police to please help me let my daughter know that I want my NamPost card back,” she said.
Her eldest daughter, who is 63 years old, said she returned from Windhoek in 2024 to care for her mother and now uses her own pension to feed the household.
Nekomba said such incidents defeat the purpose of the government pension programme and warned that anyone exploiting elderly people would face consequences.
