PM meets City leadership
The City of Windhoek's management yesterday met Prime Minister Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare to present its Strategic Plan and Annual Procurement Plan, highlighting key achievements, ongoing challenges and future priorities. Addressing the city's management team, Ngurare said all offices, ministries and agencies (OMAs), state-owned enterprises (SOEs), regional councils and local authorities are expected to develop and implement strategic plans aligned with the country's development agenda.
"The government is clear about what it wants to achieve, and all institutions must pull in the same direction," he said. The prime minister highlighted key priorities under the Sixth National Development Plan (NDP6), including agriculture and food security, housing and sanitation, tourism, and transport and logistics. During the engagement, the City of Windhoek outlined progress made since 2018 in strengthening governance, financial management and institutional stability.
City of Windhoek chief executive officer Moses Matyayi said the municipality had moved from a period of financial and operational difficulties to a more stable and sustainable position through improved compliance, stronger internal controls and governance reforms. The city also highlighted several challenges affecting service delivery and infrastructure development. These include a road maintenance backlog estimated at more than N$3 billion, growing demand for sanitation services in informal settlements, limited funding for critical services such as fire and emergency response, pressure on housing delivery, and the need to expand waste management infrastructure as the city's landfill site nears capacity.
Matyayi noted that local authorities in Namibia largely fund their own operations and receive limited operational support from central government despite being at the forefront of service delivery and community development. Ngurare acknowledged the challenges facing the municipality and said government would explore ways to support the city in addressing critical infrastructure and service delivery needs. He said issues such as road funding, sanitation, housing, public recreational facilities and food security require continued collaboration between government and the city to achieve sustainable solutions.
While commending the municipality for its progress, Ngurare encouraged municipal leadership to strengthen urban agriculture initiatives such as Farm Okukuna and expand food production projects in Windhoek and surrounding areas, including Groot Aub, in support of national food security objectives. He also urged city management and councillors to work in unity, place residents' interests above political differences and remain focused on delivering quality services.
"We should not play politics with people's lives. Humanity should come first," he said.
