Walvis Bay Mayor to focus on forgotten segments of society

THE youngest mayor ever to serve Walvis Bay, King Mandume Muatunga, was re-elected on Friday at the swearing-in ceremony of the port city’s new Council.

With eight of ten Council seats filled by Swapo members, all the office bearer positions went to Swapo. Newcomer Uilika Nambahu, a teacher, was elected Deputy Mayor.The Management Committee will be lead by the two unionists serving on the Council.Adelheid Kandjala, who is the regional organiser for the NUNW, and John Uushona, regional organiser for Natau, were re-elected for the new term as chair and deputy chair respectively.The other two members are Jeffrey //Naobeb and Derek Klazen.”It is going to be interesting for the economy of Walvis Bay with two unionists leading the Management Committee,” said a resident afterwards.The remaining councillors sworn in were Hedwig Mandean and Benson Uakumbua of Swapo, Maria Likoa of the DTA and Alwyn Maass of the CoD.The absence of Augustinus Katiti, CEO of the Walvis Bay Municipality, who was supposed to have assisted the Magistrate with the ceremony, seemed to cause a bit of a controversy on Friday.In welcoming guests, the Mayor mentioned in his acceptance speech that the CEO had “disappeared”.The Mayor’s personal assistant again raised the issue afterwards.The PRO said he was on official leave, but it appeared as if nobody had been informed of this.Back to business, Muatunga thanked his fellow councillors and comrades for re-electing him for another term.”Entrusting me with this challenging position of mayor of the port city of Walvis Bay speaks volumes of your intentions to maintain the synergy of programmes we have started in our efforts to redirect prosperity to the living conditions of our electorate.”The Mayor said the huge challenges councillors faced would require enthusiasm to tackle them head-on and perseverance to succeed.”The scourge of HIV-AIDS, unemployment, lack of training and education opportunities for our youth are on the rise here in Walvis Bay.”He said as a result many young people had lost their hope in life resulting in social ills such as rape, prostitution, crime and substance abuse.The Mayor also cautioned his councillors to not only advance the interests of the rich and powerful at Walvis Bay.”We are all well aware that the distribution of wealth in Namibia is skewed; therefore Council and its strategic smart partners should re-energise their appetite for public-private partnerships.”He said the needs of the “forgotten segments” of the community should be identified and alliances formed to meet those needs.Newcomer Uilika Nambahu, a teacher, was elected Deputy Mayor.The Management Committee will be lead by the two unionists serving on the Council.Adelheid Kandjala, who is the regional organiser for the NUNW, and John Uushona, regional organiser for Natau, were re-elected for the new term as chair and deputy chair respectively.The other two members are Jeffrey //Naobeb and Derek Klazen.”It is going to be interesting for the economy of Walvis Bay with two unionists leading the Management Committee,” said a resident afterwards.The remaining councillors sworn in were Hedwig Mandean and Benson Uakumbua of Swapo, Maria Likoa of the DTA and Alwyn Maass of the CoD.The absence of Augustinus Katiti, CEO of the Walvis Bay Municipality, who was supposed to have assisted the Magistrate with the ceremony, seemed to cause a bit of a controversy on Friday.In welcoming guests, the Mayor mentioned in his acceptance speech that the CEO had “disappeared”.The Mayor’s personal assistant again raised the issue afterwards.The PRO said he was on official leave, but it appeared as if nobody had been informed of this.Back to business, Muatunga thanked his fellow councillors and comrades for re-electing him for another term.”Entrusting me with this challenging position of mayor of the port city of Walvis Bay speaks volumes of your intentions to maintain the synergy of programmes we have started in our efforts to redirect prosperity to the living conditions of our electorate.”The Mayor said the huge challenges councillors faced would require enthusiasm to tackle them head-on and perseverance to succeed.”The scourge of HIV-AIDS, unemployment, lack of training and education opportunities for our youth are on the rise here in Walvis Bay.”He said as a result many young people had lost their hope in life resulting in social ills such as rape, prostitution, crime and substance abuse.The Mayor also cautioned his councillors to not only advance the interests of the rich and powerful at Walvis Bay.”We are all well aware that the distribution of wealth in Namibia is skewed; therefore Council and its strategic smart partners should re-energise their appetite for public-private partnerships.”He said the needs of the “forgotten segments” of the community should be identified and alliances formed to meet those needs.