The Landless People's Movement (LPM) has rejected claims of its elected councillors being guilty of financial mismanagement, as reported by the media following a Parliamentary Standing Committee hearing on Auditor General reports in Keetmanshoop last week.

It was reported that the Keetmanshoop Municipality has recorded accumulated losses of over N$77 million between 2020 and 2021.

During a media briefing, LPM's Operative Secretary Dawid ≠Eigub said its councillors only assumed office in early 2021, after the November 2020 local authority elections, and therefore cannot be held accountable for financial decisions and losses made before their time.

"By then, the damage was already done, engineered by those who occupied these seats before them under a different political order. We must not allow the powerful to distract us with cheap headlines. Instead, we must demand accountability from the real architects of this crisis."

The audit, issued by the Auditor General, highlights missing financial records, discrepancies in VAT and asset valuations, and unsupported expenditures. The AG issued an adverse opinion for both years, indicating deep-rooted financial irregularities.

LPM argued that the municipality's financial crisis reflects decades of underfunding, economic inequality, and systemic mismanagement, not the short tenure of the current council.

The party also defended recent decisions made by the council, including the write-off of historic water debts for elderly residents. 

"The decision to write off historic water debts for the elderly is not a sign of fiscal irresponsibility; it is an act of restorative justice in the face of an unjust system that commodifies basic human needs."

LPM urged the public and media to read the audit reports critically, cautioning against "cheap headlines" and misinformation that unfairly target current political leadership.

"We stepped into the office and found a financial and administrative disaster authored by those who came before us, and we have spent years repairing that damage. We are not merely balancing ledgers; we are fighting for the economic dignity of Keetmanshoop's residents."

The Keetmanshoop municipality is under the political leadership of LPM.