Oikango and surrounding villages within the Ongwediva Constituency of Oshana Region will receive a network tower after many years of being without proper network connectivity in the area.
The community has been without a proper network, which has left them behind in terms of information and communication technology (ICT), despite the country urging people to make use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in their daily lives to attain the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Speaking at the engagement with the community, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Emma Theofelus, stressed that they only got to know of the network connectivity after a letter was written to her ministry early this year by the senior headman on the network connectivity gap between the existing network tower and the affected villages, adding that they will take a community-based approach to the solutions.
"We see that there is a need for network towers. We have of course indicated this to our different partners, whether Telecom or MTC, and it seems that in the next financial year there could be provision for this particular area in the Oshana Region. Of course, the needs are vast, especially across all 14 regions, but we wish to invest at least in each region, and I think for Oshana in the next financial year, this is a strong contender as sometimes we need to prioritise, although there might be multiple. We will continue to take a community-based approach to the solutions to try and bring to the community so that it's a collective effort and it's not only the government trying to bring services to the people."
According to the senior headman, Gabes Shaduka, the network tower came as a result of numerous efforts requesting a network tower, in which he wrote a number of letters to Telekom, MTC, and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), and the answer came in May 2024 that his application was successful and was earmarked for the 2025/2026 financial year. He added that the children from the area suffered, especially in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were required to study online, despite the area not having network connectivity.
"We have been dealing with this problem for a long time. Since the world is developing and education is being conducted through the internet, our learners in this area have had to suffer a lot to get proper network connectivity. In villages like Oikango No. 1, Oikango No. 2, Elombe, Ondino, Omashekandiva, Ekola Naambo No. 1, and Oushombo, there is no network connectivity. It came during the time of COVID-19, when people were asked to study online. Most of the learners from here have to move to another place in search of network connectivity."
Shaduka also urges the community members to refrain from vandalising the network tower once it is constructed.
"My plea to the community is that when the network tower comes, let's take good care of it, because it is there to help us. Most of the information we get comes from the internet, and if there is no network, then we are nobody. Let us take good care of it, as the government has come to our rescue."