Residents of Otapatapa Village in the Otamanzi Constituency of the Omusati Region are pleading for urgent government intervention after a prolonged drought left the community without water for both people and livestock.
The village's only source of water – its earth dam – has dried up. Residents, who mainly rely on crops and livestock, now travel up to 10 km with donkey carts to collect water.
Aina Veiko, an Otapatapa resident, says the village's water supply, installed in 2012, collapsed after two years, and pleas for help to fix it have been ignored.
"We have long been with the water crisis. Back in the years we were connected to water, but it only worked for two years. After the pipes burst, they were never repaired. The responsible committee went to the councillor's office to ask for tools to fix the burst pipes, but they were never helped."
Veiko further says residents gave up on fixing the pipeline and returned to using earth dams. After being promised restoration of water supply by the councillor's office in November last year, the community dug trenches in April as instructed but only received 10 pipes and no follow-up from officials.
According to another resident. Dr. Kleopas Erastus, residents who spent months digging trenches and putting their own money in the project are worried it will all come to nothing without additional support.
"We are much concerned that if we do not get pipes, the trenches that we dug with the community members will definitely be covered up. It will also take us time to excavate those trenches. We spent our energy on that; we spent our money. Of course, we used to contribute funds to buy maize meal and relish because we usually have our lunch there. It will frustrate the community members, honestly speaking. That is the fear we have, and we are not receiving any promise from the office of the councillor."
Otamanzi Constituency Councillor Irja Mbutu told NBC News only ten 100-metre pipes were available when she took over, and those were budgeted to cover 1 km.
She said delays occurred because residents extended trenches beyond the planned 1 km without approval.
Mbutu added the office will address the issue and urged residents to consult the councillor's office and avoid acting on their own.