Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) president McHenry Venaani says the government’s piecemeal approach to housing and rural and urban development is concerning.
In his contributions to the recent appropriation bill debate in the parliament, he said while minister of finance and social grants management Ericah Shafudah acknowledged that housing and informal settlement upgrading are priority investment areas, the funds allocated are inadequate.
“I must again stress that the fiscal commitment falls dramatically short of the policy rhetoric. What is lacking again is a coherent, costed, and implementable national housing delivery strategy,” Venaani said.
The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development has been allocated N$2.7 billion from the national budget for the 2025/26 financial year, and over the midterm expenditure framework, the vote received N$8.5 billion.
Venaani said after decades of policy commitments, the housing backlog has ballooned beyond 300 000 units, and over 900 000 Namibians still live in informal settlements.
The former official opposition leader said the finance minister once again made funds available for informal settlement upgrading, but with no clear intention.
He asked: “How many plots will be serviced? How many families will be resettled? Where is the accompanying breakdown of urban land infrastructure projects at towns like Rundu, Katima Mulilo or Otjiwarongo?
“Upgrading has now become a euphemism for laying gravel where there was previously sand and installing three water taps in a neighbourhood.”
Venaani said young professionals such as teachers, nurses, and police officers are continually finding themselves locked out of the housing market.
“They are forced to rent in backyard flats or shacks because the state has failed to stimulate affordable urban land supply,” he said.
Another contradiction, Venaani highlighted, is that while housing is described as a priority, the development budget for the entire Ministry of Urban and Rural Development remains stagnant when adjusted for inflation.
The PDM leader asked where the transformative vision and the public-private partnerships to scale up serviced land delivery are.
He also asked for the revision of the outdated Mass Housing Development Framework, which collapsed years ago under the weight of bureaucratic
inefficiency and cost overruns.
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