Reho mess absolutely disgraceful The mess at the Rehoboth Town Council has been allowed to spiral out of control for many years now. The same challenges of maladministration persist as the authorities continuously fail to rein in the troublesome officials.
The Rehoboth mess is a classic example of how some local authorities are being managed in our country and in most cases without regard for the interest of the residents.
Councillors are doing as they wish, while town council officials are also just as guilty for creating this terrible state of affairs.
Rehoboth has been in the news for all the wrong reasons and this has partly to do with the unending infighting rocking the town's political leadership. The town's CEO Christophe Uirab recently admitted to Namibian Sun that the town was on the brink of collapse.
He claimed there was rampant mismanagement and corruption, which has resulted in piled-up debts. According to him he is forced to run council affairs on an ad-hoc basis since there is “no money” in reserve and the council can only deliver services such as water and electricity with the daily payments from residents.
With residents owing over N$100 million for services rendered, both immediate and long-term projects have to be put on hold simply because there is no money.
Even the line minister Sophia Shaningwa is distraught over the situation at the Rehoboth Town Council and this week warned councillors to address the countless problems at the town.
So many investigations have been conducted at the town council but there has not been any meaningful action taken against the culprits. Corruption of any kind and at any level should not be tolerated. There must be consequences for those responsible for the mess if we are indeed serious about tackling corruption in our country. We have bemoaned enough the terrible financial state as well as the poor controls in place at the town and it is high time the authorities take action.
Councillors and town council officials cannot continue to run the town as their personal fiefdom.
Enough is enough.