The principal of Max Makushe Secondary in Kavango East's Mukwe Constituency has threatened to suspend lessons if overflowing sewage at the school hostel is not addressed.

Godfried Mukata says the school hostel was declared unfit for human habitation last year by the Ministry of Health and Social Services and should not have been allowed to reopen in January.

Max Makushe is one of the oldest schools in the region, accommodating more than 1,000 learners in its hostel.

The sewage manhole has been overflowing as the pump fails to pump the effluent to the oxidation pond.

The wastewater, Mukata says, flows back into the Kavango River at the exact same place where the water supply for the school and hostel is drawn.

"We are afraid of waterborne diseases, and we have about 1,000 students here, so it can spread so quickly that they complain of stomach problems. We had several cases of stomach problems, such as diarrhea; I believe we still have such cases."

Contacted for comment, Mukwe Circuit Inspector of Education Theofillus Kadhimo says a contractor was appointed to repair the pump last year, but the problem persists.

"To be honest with you, we are not satisfied with the issue of Max Makushe because the contractor was contracted on November 12, 2022, so he was expected to get the job done within a month but he failed to do so, and then last week he managed to get the pumps that he had been waiting for and he installed them, but the situation shows no improvement; it remains the same."

Kadhimo suspects the pumps installed by the contractor may be too small for the amount of waste discharged from the hostel.

The only long-term solution, he suggests, is to appoint a new contractor, as he says closing the school will negatively affect the academic calendar.