Otjokavare residents left stranded without basic services

Residents of Otjokavare in the Kunene region say they lack essential services such as banking, fuel, shops and reliable telecommunications.

Resident Isabella Kuvare, who works at the Herero Living Culture Museum at the settlement in the Sesfontein constituency, says due to the absence of these services, residents are forced to travel long distances to Opuwo or Kamanjab.

Opuwo is 150km from Otjokavare, while Kamanjab is 100km from the settlement.

Kuvare says the Living Herero Culture Museum is currently not fully functional, as it has no access to water.

“There is also a need to have a gravel road to the museum. Since the official opening of the museum last year, we have not received tourists,” she says.

Museum supervisor Vetowajao Tjiuira earlier this year also expressed the need for water at the museum.

“We do not have water here and, therefore, visitors and not coming,” he said at the time. He added that the establishment would need between N$200 000 and N$300 000 for the museum to be fully completed.

The main aim of setting up the museum was to draw visitors and tourists to Otjokavare and the Kunene region in general to learn about the cultures and traditions of the Herero people.

Another resident, Rodney Uaenenisa, says apart from the dire need for banking services and a fuel station, residents of Otjokavare are also facing human-wildlife conflict.

The settlement is close to the Etosha National Park fence, and people losing their goats and sheep are not well compensated, he says.

Uaenenisa says one farmer lost 11 sheep to wild animals in September.

In addition to these challenges, there is also poor telecommunications services, he says.

Sesfontein constituency councillor Bernardus //Garoeb says all villages in his constituency (including Otjokavare) have village development committees, which need to come up with developmental plans or initiatives for their respective village.

He says the regional council requires the people themselves to inform it of their needs. “This is because sometimes you can come up with something, but the communities are not interested in it,” //Garoeb says.

He says because he has been in office for four months only, he has not engaged with village development committees yet, but will do so if he wins in the upcoming regional council and local authority elections.

“I am now busy with my campaign, but if I happen to be elected for the five-year term, I will make an effort to understand what the people in each village want to be done for them,” he says.

On poor telecommunications services at his constituency, //Garoeb says he wrote to MTC in August appealing to the company to improve its services in the constituency.

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