‘Too much self-help’ at self-help housing project

A NUMBER of residents of Windhoek’s Havana informal settlement are growing increasingly agitated over alleged corruption in community housing schemes that were meant to make it easier for them to acquire their own homes.

Members of Hakahana’s 167-strong Huidare Community Association on Friday filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) after failing for the past nine years to settle their obligations to the Windhoek municipality for the plot they wish to acquire.
Group members charge that, since 2000 when the City of Windhoek started its Build Together Housing project, three separate chairpersons entrusted with Huidare members’ money have at one point or another stopped paying the municipality and allegedly misappropriated the money.
The group, many of whose members have no fixed income, allege they have lost close to N$100 000 to previous chairpersons, and are now in conflict with their current representatives over municipal threats that they may be in line for eviction from erf 856 Hakahana.
In terms of the group’s rules, each member is responsible for settling a personal debt of N$5 000, which initially cost each a monthly payment of N$60 to N$70.
The total value of the plot is around N$855 000.
According to group member Petrina Plaatjies, the first instance of corruption was noted in 2002, when the then chairpersons first stopped reporting to them on their financial situation, and a subsequent notice was received from the municipality that they were in arrears, all despite having paid consistently.
Criminal charges were laid over the N$88 000 apparently lost, she said, but nothing came of the case.
A second incident resulted in a four-month prison term for one of the group’s bookkeepers, Elizabeth de Wee.
De Wee was criminally charged in 2001 for misappropriating N$9 700 that was never paid over to the municipality.
She testified in court that she had spent the money on personal needs.
The current group leaders have now enlisted the services of a debt-collecting agency, Effective Debt Collectors, in an attempt to try and settle the group’s debt with the municipality, which won’t allow building to start on the plot until it is paid off.
Speaking to The Namibian last week, Marthinus Izaaks, owner of Effective Debt Collectors, said his company has taken over the responsibility for settling the group’s monthly municipal bill, retrieving the money from the group’s members.
The group’s monthly payment has risen to around N$350 a month because of increasing arrears with the municipality, resulting in many members having difficulty honouring this agreement.
But while Effective Debt Collectors has signed an agreement with the group chairpersons, Izaaks complains that disunity within the group has led to some members acquiring the services of a separate debt-collecting agency to try and get their debt settled.
He disputes that any payment was made to the municipality by this group.
‘What this means is that at the end of the day you’ll have people who are fully paid up and others who are behind. This will make it difficult once it comes to buying the plot. The best decision would be the removal of some of the members who are not contributing,’ Izaaks said.
Municipal spokesperson Ndangi Katoma said yesterday that although the City of Windhoek facilitates and sponsors training for self-help groups, the responsibility ultimately lies with individual groups to remain ethical.
‘These groups are independently formed for a specific need, which is to address the housing need. But when people decide to start acting unethically, then the law of the country simply will have to take its course,’ Katoma said.
Members of the Huidare group spoken to directed The Namibian to spokesperson and chairperson Allen Masaka.
Masaka could not be reached on his mobile. A call to his office revealed that he was on leave until next week. denver@namibian.com.na