Councillors urged to be innovative

Ester Kamati



Otjiwarongo

Councillors were encouraged to be innovative and take action instead of waiting on the line ministry to serve the communities.

Speaking at a workshop which took place yesterday in Otjiwarongo, urban and rural development minister Erasmus Uutoni urged councillors to get in the habit of writing proposals instead of waiting for the line ministry to make decisions.

He said councillors should shy away from telling the community that they are waiting for the government’s approval and make independent decisions.

“Sometimes there are a lot of things in your area there, but you cannot even identify [them]. I could see a lot of things that do not require a ministry’s intervention. It is your own intervention,” Erasmus said.

He added that it is mainly rural areas that require attention.

“If we develop those areas, then we cut the movement of our people into urban areas. Because there you are not doing anything and now people are flocking to the urban areas,” he said, stating that this because a challenge for local authorities in urban areas.

Serve the public

The workshop was aimed at providing guidance to councillors to better understand policies and legislation and was attended by regional councillors from Ohangwena and Zambezi as well as local authority councillors from Windhoek, Okakarara, Otavi, Ondangwa, Leonardville, Maltahohe and Tses.

Uutoni reminded councillors that they are in office to serve the public and not their political interests. He added that councillors should be accountable and serve with a sense of urgency and also warned against the mismanagement of funds and infighting between council members, which he said is detrimental to the community.

He encouraged councillors to speak to their communities and encourage them to pay for the services provided by their local authority, even though many are sceptical to approach members of the community because of the promises that they make during election campaigns.

Millions in debt

“Today as I am talking to you, some local authorities are indebted with millions.” He added that councillors usually run to the ministry instead of going back to the communities which use the services.

“The funds are being generated from your local authorities,” he said.

At the same event, Otjozondjupa governor James Uerikua advised councillors to focus on the needs of communities to tackle challenges including high youth unemployment, lack of housing and expanding agriculture in their constituencies.

“Let’s make sure that we adhere to the principal of good governance, transparency and accountability,” he said.

Chairperson of the Otjozondjupa regional council, Maralyn Mbakera, added that within the principals of good governance, service delivery is easy to implement. She encouraged councillors to use public meetings to attend to the needs of the people, adding that “if a community is informed, they will never be frustrated”.

- [email protected]