Political egos at play We have been following the battle for power at the Oshakati Town Council – seemingly pitting now former mayor Katrina Shimbulu and chairperson of the management committee Gabriel Kamwanka – with keen interest. Administratively, the Oshakati Town Council is one of the best run in the country and one of the local authorities that has managed to dish out a big number of plots to its landless residents over the last 12 months or so.
Despite what appears to be a good urban land supply strategy in place, the town faces many challenges and political infighting is chief among them.
The contentious sale of the old Oshakati Open Market to a company owned by renowned businessman Erastus ''Chicco'' Shapumba for N$2.5 million continues to divide the political leadership of the town.
According to reports, Shimbulu flexed her muscle and allocated the land to Shapumba, while another group of councillors led by Kamwanka were favouring another businessman to land the prime erven, located in the heart of Oshakati. There is no doubt that many of these councillors are now putting pressure on urban and rural development minister Sophia Shaningwa not to approve the land sale to Shapumba.
While it is every councillor or individual''s right to object to the sale of the plot, the goings on at Oshakati once against demonstrate that politicians are not necessarily there to act in the public interest. Councillors in their nature should be selfless activists who are elected by the citizenry because they have confidence in them. Councillors are in no way serving the interests of residents if they bypass them in favour of economic elites and interest groups with strong fundraising and organisational capacity.
The political standoff at Oshakati must be addressed once and for all to avoid the holding up of key development at the town.
Political egos should no longer be entertained at the expense of service delivery.