The Rundu Town Council signed a memorandum of agreement (MoU) with the Namibian Housing Acting Group to construct affordable housing for low-income earners.

The MoU was signed at the Sikanduko informal settlement at Rundu.

The Rundu Town Council and the Namibian Housing Action Group entered into an agreement in 2018 for the formalisation of the Sikanduko informal settlement.

The Mayor of Rundu, Gabriel Kanyanga, stated that the formalisation aims to uplift the livelihood and living conditions of the residents of the town through the provision of land tenure.

"I must tell you that the provision of serviced land is a national outcry, and it is not focused in one area of Rundu town only. We are thus trying our level best with different initiatives, such as this collaboration, to assist with the provision of a land tenure system for our community to benefit. The upgrading project is a highly community-led process with a bottom-up approach, from community meetings to planning, surveying, and servicing. This is to allow the residents of the area to take ownership and understand the processes involved as well as the ultimate outcomes of the project."

The director of the Namibia Housing Action Group, Heinrich Amushila, says the team is only left with surveying the plots.

"Sikanduko will provide a total of 2550 plots; it's quite a lot if we can hold our hands together. I can tell you many people will get land very fast through this process, so of the 2500, 2400 are single residential, so everyone can then get a plot and build a house."

Theresia Nangoro, a member of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia in the Kavango East Region, says the federation has more than 670 members.

"This MoU is indeed offering great opportunities to the poorest of the poorest. We have been working together to upgrade the sikanduko and ngwangwa informal settlements and obtain more affordable land and services for those organised in saving groups. Therefore, we, the federation, will take this document and its contents seriously. We will make use of the opportunity given to us to continue cooperating with our town council and other stakeholders."

Nangoro says the group has so far saved close to N$490,000, adding that through the programme, 74 houses have so far been constructed in the region.