Katjirua wants stakeholder buy-in

Katjirua wants stakeholder buy-inKhomas residents urged to participate Public involvement will lead to successful development in Windhoek says governor. Public involvement and participation will bring about successful development, Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua has said.

Speaking at the official launch of the first round of the City of Windhoek's public meetings on Saturday, McLeod-Katjirua said successful development is not only derived from cost reduction and resource mobilisation, but also from better targeting of people's needs through active involvement.

In line with its public participation policy, the City of Windhoek every year conducts public meetings with the purpose of sharing public information on issues that affect them.

This year, Windhoek municipality public meetings will be held over weekends until 5 August.

“It is evident that there is a growing expectation from the public to participate and to be involved in order to hold the policy makers accountable,” said McLeod-Katjirua.

She said this expectation is not misplaced because in a democratic set-up like Namibia, the involvement of citizens is essential and it must be clearly seen and practically experienced. “As leaders we must ensure the capacity and opportunity for collective participation by creating adequate opportunities for consultations with our communities in ways that allow them to take ownership of the development process,” said McLeod-Katjirua.

She added that government should require public service providers to put feedback and complaint mechanisms in place.

Feedback from the public would be useful early warning signs that something has gone wrong, which would then enable the public service to engage with citizens.

“We can make it easy to give feedback and make complaints through new technology such as text messages and the internet,” she said.

NAMPA