Gawanas defends council’s service record
Outgoing City of Windhoek (CoW) councillor Sade Gawanas has dismissed claims that the council was divided and failed to deliver services, saying the record speaks for itself.“If you look at the council resolutions that were taken between December 2020 and November 2025, you will see that the majority of the agenda items that we took, we approved,” Gawanas told Network Media Hub on Monday.
This comes after social activists, during a recent panel discussion with incoming council candidates, raised concerns about the lack of unity among council members, a factor they believe contributed to the council’s poor service delivery. “The only way that service delivery gets done is when council resolutions are taken. That means that the majority of the opposition worked together,” Gawanas said.
She admitted disagreements did arise among councillors but stressed that these never stood in the way of service delivery.
Decisions made
“We had disagreements, there’s no way that you do not find disagreements. But when it came to taking decisions on matters that concern the residents of Windhoek, we took decisions,” she insisted.
The perception that councillors were divided, she added, was largely based on isolated instances related to office bearer elections. “The notion and the story that we were divided ... the only thing that we were divided on most of the time was when we had to choose office bearers."
She emphasised that council work continued despite political differences. “When it came to taking council resolutions, we would sit down, we would discuss, we would disagree, we would argue, we would fight, but decisions were taken,” she said. “That is evident enough in the resolutions that were taken by council during the past five years.”
She added that despite political diversity, councillors managed to cooperate. “We have different ideologies. We are different political parties that came together for the first time in the history of Namibia. We came together, and we realised what was supposed to be done. Each and every one of us, the opposition, contributed.”
Dissatisfied residents
She added: “Did the residents of Windhoek not have water? Were NamPower and NamWater not paid? Were roads not fixed, even though we know that we could not reach the ultimate goal of fixing all potholes? The path was definitely challenging, but services were provided.”
Speaking at the recent panel discussion, youth activist Armando Pieters said when councillors enter the chambers, they become “honourables”.
“Those who ought to represent us become too honourable and we are left to fend for ourselves in court, left to fight against high rates and taxes, and left to struggle with potholes," he said.
"We, the residents, have to stand up for ourselves after electing you into office. In the current council, most of you have representatives who have failed us. But now, speaking of citizen participation in the affairs of local authorities, as a student of governance, I must point out that under the Local Authorities Act, it is imperative that citizens play a role in the administration of local authorities,” he added. - [email protected]