PROTESTING Usakos residents petitioned Erongo governor Cleophas Mutjavikua on Friday to intervene to stop alleged corruption and mismanagement at the town.
Mutjavikua’s special adviser, Adelaide Kandjala, received the petition on his behalf, as he was out of town.
The handful of protesters, brandishing posters blaring frustrations, were led by community activist Manfred Naobeb, who read out the 22-point petition which called for the governor to intervene within six months.
The petitioners threatened that if this did not happen, they would hand in their voters’ cards.
Naobeb said the protest would be a symbolic shutting down of the Usakos Town Council. “With this protest we aim to address corruption, nepotism, unfairness, inequality and incompetence at the town council. We also want to show the office bearers that the community is aware and fed up with their deliberate and open corruption, incompetence and favouritism. It has become a norm for public office bearers to take advantage of public resources as well as practise corruption freely in Namibia without fear,” said Naobeb. He said the council has failed to provide basic services to residents since 2009, has failed to attract investors to the town, and has failed to appoint qualified and experienced municipal and council staff to deliver quality service to the community.
“It has become a norm for the councillors to fight, threaten and manipulate chief executive officers every time they want a tender given to their friends and family as well as making sure that only they and their close associates, children and relatives get access to erven. It is against this background that we demand the removal of all the councillors and those that were recruited in a corrupt manner,” he said.
The list of grievancies includes the poor performance of the town’s fire brigade; administrative staff failing to make financial statements public; the unauthorised sale of the old airport building and plot; the abuse of the council vehicles as taxis; non-payment for houses since independence; flashy lifestyles of councillors; the unauthorised sale of the plot on which the youth brick-making project was situated; divisions between councillors and the CEO; misuse of Build Together funds; unqualified staff; irregular council meetings; no recreational facilities for youth; and council’s suspension of the CEO.
The protesting residents demanded a thorough audit of the financial affairs of the town council from 2005 to date.
Kandjala said Namibian citizens have the right to protest and present petitions when they were unhappy with their elected leaders’ behaviour and performance, and to remind the leaders of their responsibilities.
She said the petition would be presented to the governor for his consideration.
