Frustrated residents of Walvis Bay have petitioned the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, James Sankwasa, to dissolve the current municipal council over alleged poor service delivery and mismanagement.

However, the minister said the timing is not right to take such action.

The residents aired their dissatisfaction during a closed-door meeting with Minister Sankwasa on Friday.

They cited overflowing waste, poor sanitation, pothole-ridden roads, and inflated charges from the debt collection company Red Force as issues needing his intervention.

However, Sankwasa explained that he could not dissolve the council at this stage, as the upcoming elections would allow the council to exercise its democratic mandate. 

He emphasised that the Local Authorities Act grants him the power to remove a council for poor performance, but such a move must follow due process and be based on clear evidence of governance failure.

"I was informed that some municipalities, including Walvis, have not been audited in the last two or three years. This raises the question: if auditing has not been conducted, how can we ensure accountability for the funds allocated to local authorities? This municipality is a municipality class one municipality, which does not necessarily receive the majority of its budget from the government, but being that that is, these are public funds that must be accounted for by those who have been elected to be in office. Those who are appointed to run the affairs of the council. The absence of the auditing report makes it difficult to assess the financial position and effective management of public funds, which are the reasons the minister wishes to intervene."

Sankwasa further clarified the role of the residents in the election of local leadership.

"The minister does not appoint local authority councils to us. The local authority councillors are voted for by the residents of a given town themselves. The residents, not the minister, are responsible for holding their council accountable because they are the ones who voted for the specific party or individual councillors. Now, if they are suffering from that, it is them who must rescue themselves from this situation. They have that duty."