BE COMPASSIONATE: Ndumba Kamwanyah. PHOTO: FACEBOOK
BE COMPASSIONATE: Ndumba Kamwanyah. PHOTO: FACEBOOK

Debt collectors could spark riots, analyst warns

Kenya Kambowe
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah has warned against the current trend of local authorities enlisting debt collectors to recover money owed by residents, urging municipalities to take a more humane approach.

He cautioned that employing profit-driven debt collection companies is insensitive and dehumanising.

Oshakati, Rundu, Katima Mulilo and Windhoek - amongst others - have made use of debt collectors to recover unpaid debt from defaulting municipal customers.

“I think there should be a more compassionate approach, at least for a mechanism to be developed such as an internal payment plan. Maybe make it a little bit longer and based on their income. I think it is time to be innovative and creative,” he said.

Local authorities’ decision to enlist debt collectors comes at a time when they are unable to pay off their debts to creditors such as NamWater and NamPower.

However, Kamwanyah argued that local authorities should apply a more compassionate approach and should instead engage the defaulters and develop a strategy based on the challenges that lead to unpaid utility bills.

“I think it is not advisable for the local authorities and municipalities to outsource services to recover the monies they are owed by residents.”

Makes it worse

“A collaborative approach will be in the best interest of everybody. The thing of sending debt collectors, who are profit-making organisations that we know add interest and aggravate the situation for the resident - that in itself can lead to riots like we have seen in dire situations when countries are very prone to riots and boycotts and all those types of things,” he warned.

Kamwanyah said debt collectors can worsen the situations of persons who are already struggling to make ends meet.

“It adds another level of depression and stress on the societal level, especially people who are faced with such situations,” he argued.

He cautioned: “We have to learn to treat people in a more humane manner. We have a high poverty level; we have a lot of children who are sleeping without eating, and then you go to that breadwinner, and you take the extra money that the person was going to use to make sure there is food on the table. That person now has to pay it as interest because the municipality enlisted a third party because of their own inability to come up with an internal system and processes to make sure they recover the money”.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-09

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Katima Mulilo: 24° | 38° Rundu: 21° | 32° Eenhana: 20° | 26° Oshakati: 22° | 28° Ruacana: 22° | 31° Tsumeb: 21° | 27° Otjiwarongo: 19° | 29° Omaruru: 18° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 19° | 32° Henties Bay: 13° | 18° Wind speed: 19km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 02:25, High tide: 09:15, Low Tide: 15:48, High tide: 22:00 Swakopmund: 12° | 16° Wind speed: 20km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 02:23, High tide: 09:13, Low Tide: 15:46, High tide: 21:58 Walvis Bay: 12° | 21° Wind speed: 26km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 02:23, High tide: 09:12, Low Tide: 15:46, High tide: 21:57 Rehoboth: 18° | 30° Mariental: 19° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 16° | 31° Aranos: 20° | 33° Lüderitz: 13° | 23° Ariamsvlei: 15° | 29° Oranjemund: 16° | 20° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 18° | 31° Lubumbashi: 18° | 32° Mbabane: 17° | 29° Maseru: 13° | 25° Antananarivo: 17° | 33° Lilongwe: 21° | 33° Maputo: 22° | 35° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 16° | 21° Durban: 18° | 22° Johannesburg: 15° | 27° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 23° | 34° Harare: 19° | 32° Currency: GBP to NAD 22.67 | EUR to NAD 18.84 | CNY to NAD 2.45 | USD to NAD 17.58 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.25 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.64 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.06 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 133.11 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.4 | USD to EGP 49.25 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1664.84 | USD to ZAR 17.56 | USD to ZMW 27.2 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1851.79 Down -1.41% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14663.22 Up +1.21% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 31267.47 Up +0.72% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 684.46/OZ DOWN -0.0083 | Copper US$ 4.30/lb DOWN -0.027 | Zinc US$ 3 003.50/T UP 0.17% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 74.29/BBP DOWN -0.0215 | Platinum US$ 969.80/OZ DOWN -0.0274 Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 24° | 38° Rundu: 21° | 32° Eenhana: 20° | 26° Oshakati: 22° | 28° Ruacana: 22° | 31° Tsumeb: 21° | 27° Otjiwarongo: 19° | 29° Omaruru: 18° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 19° | 32° Henties Bay: 13° | 18° Wind speed: 19km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 02:25, High tide: 09:15, Low Tide: 15:48, High tide: 22:00 Swakopmund: 12° | 16° Wind speed: 20km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 02:23, High tide: 09:13, Low Tide: 15:46, High tide: 21:58 Walvis Bay: 12° | 21° Wind speed: 26km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 02:23, High tide: 09:12, Low Tide: 15:46, High tide: 21:57 Rehoboth: 18° | 30° Mariental: 19° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 16° | 31° Aranos: 20° | 33° Lüderitz: 13° | 23° Ariamsvlei: 15° | 29° Oranjemund: 16° | 20° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 18° | 31° Lubumbashi: 18° | 32° Mbabane: 17° | 29° Maseru: 13° | 25° Antananarivo: 17° | 33° Lilongwe: 21° | 33° Maputo: 22° | 35° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 16° | 21° Durban: 18° | 22° Johannesburg: 15° | 27° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 23° | 34° Harare: 19° | 32° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 22.67 | EUR to NAD 18.84 | CNY to NAD 2.45 | USD to NAD 17.58 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.25 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.64 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.06 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 133.11 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.4 | USD to EGP 49.25 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1664.84 | USD to ZAR 17.56 | USD to ZMW 27.2 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1851.79 Down -1.41% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14663.22 Up +1.21% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 31267.47 Up +0.72% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 684.46/OZ DOWN -0.0083 | Copper US$ 4.30/lb DOWN -0.027 | Zinc US$ 3 003.50/T UP 0.17% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 74.29/BBP DOWN -0.0215 | Platinum US$ 969.80/OZ DOWN -0.0274