Rundu residents have called on the government to make land available to build decent houses.
They shared this sentiment with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban and Rural Development and Land Reform.
Those who attended the engagement were very vocal about their housing needs.
Representatives of the Rundu Town Council, Kavango East Regional Council, Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN), and the National Housing Enterprise all got the opportunity to give presentations on the housing situation at Rundu.
The committee was not impressed with the presentations by the stakeholders.
Chairperson of the committee Clementia Cloete raised her concerns.
“We are very much disappointed. Their presentation was not up to standard. The people who needed to answer the issues raised by the community were not available. How could you send someone to a parliamentary committee that came to seek clarity on the land and sanitation crises when there was no one available to provide answers? The people are not doing their work. They are not doing what they are supposed to do. That is the big problem.”
NHE was not spared either.
“It was not the presentation we expected as Members of Parliament because they are the ones dealing with these challenges, and they are the ones looking for land to build houses. But the presentation they gave us today was something else.”
According to the chairperson, only members of the SDFN and the Namibia Housing Action Group came prepared. The federation has built 113 houses at Divundu but only 32 in Rundu.
They said they have been trying to secure land in Rundu since 2018.
Just a day before the parliamentary standing committee had its engagement, the federation received a promise letter from the council stating that land has been identified for 80 plots.
The final paperwork is still being prepared by the town council and the federation is not exactly sure when it will be available.
“People need answers. You can see people need answers from the town council and also from the regional council and there was no one to answer them on what they need,” added Cloete.
Approached for comment on their whereabouts, Rundu Town Council CEO Olavi Nathanael told NBC News that he is engaged with the fact-finding task committee appointed by the Minister of Urban and Rural Development which started on Monday and will continue until next week Friday.
The Kavango East Regional Council responded by saying the reason why its Chief Regional Officer, Ludgela Nangura, did not attend the engagement was because she was facilitating the public hearing of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economy and Industry, Public Administration and Planning.