Residents of Oshikunde's Onamafila village and the surrounding areas are calling for urgent action as their recently constructed primary health care clinic remains closed more than a year after completion.

They expressed their frustration to Ohangwena Governor Sebastian Ndeitunga during his visit to the site on Thursday.

A fully completed clinic standing in Onamafila village has remained closed and unused since 2023, while residents continue to travel over 100 kilometres to and from Okongo, which is the nearest hospital.

The mobile outreach services they once relied on have been stopped under the assumption of the health workers that the new clinic is already providing service to them. 

Lonia Shaanika, a resident of Onamafila, voiced her concerns. "This is the sixth year since the construction of our clinic, and it is still not open. We have TB cases here, and we used to receive outreach services once a month. However, health workers stopped coming because they apparently heard that our clinic is now open."

Another resident, Simon Nghidiwakusha, shared similar frustrations: We were rejoicing when we saw a clinic being built here because Okongo is far. Now the clinic is here, but we can’t use it. What hurts even more is that we no longer receive mobile outreach services because they claim we have a clinic now, which is not yet open."

Ohangwena Governor Sebastian Ndeitunga expressed concern over the delay in opening the health facility and requested the Ministry of Health to intervene with a quick resolution. 

The Oshikunde Constituency Councillor Lonia Shinana-Kaishungu said it was heartbreaking to see the community suffering while a fully built clinic stands unused.

Meanwhile, the regional health director who accompanied the governor said he was informed that the delay was due to the non-delivery of some plumbing and sewer materials that were needed to make the clinic fully operational.