Residents of Katutura feel misled by the City of Windhoek and its campaign to write off the municipal bills of elderly residents.

The promised debt cancellation includes conditions of payment that residents say remain unaffordable for the elderly. 

Katutura residents, mostly comprised of the elderly, marched to the Windhoek Municipality Care Centre, demanding the cancellation of high municipal bills.

The write-offs were conditional, including a requirement to install water metres, and those with overdue current balances, among others, were rejected. Payment for water metres can be arranged for over five years.

Residents further reject the 50% interest write-off offer by the City of Windhoek.

The residents addressed letters to the City of Windhoek, the Auditor General, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Namibian Competition Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.

The Ombudsman, Basilius Dyakugha, was among the officials who came out to listen to the residents and receive the letter addressed to his office.

The residents, however, expressed their disappointment with other officials who did not turn up even after an invitation.

City of Windhoek spokesperson Lydia Amutenya says the decision made by the Council on November 30, 2023, pertains to debts incurred up to November 30, 2023, and only those debts are eligible for write-off.

She further highlighted that pensioners who meet the specified registration requirements stand to benefit from a 100% write-off of both capital and interest on their debts. 

However, the conditions for this write-off are the payment of debts accumulated from December 2023 onwards.

Non-pensioners and businesses, on the other hand, will receive a 50% discount on their interest as part of this initiative.

The decision, she says, was communicated to the public accordingly, emphasising the importance of continued payment of accounts.