Ondangwa residents described the late President Dr. Hage Geingob as a great leader and unifier who made significant contributions to Namibia and the world at large.

Some pronounced him a man of good character, a trustworthy person, and a hardworking, peace-loving man.

The residents made these remarks during the candle-lighting ceremony in honour of the late President, which was organised by the Ondangwa Town Council at Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Secondary School's sports field.

NamWater Operations Manager Abraham Ashipala has called on the government to consider settling the debts owed to it by rural water schemes.

Oshana local water committee owes the water utility N$59,6 million.

NamWater made an appeal to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Development at Oshakati, which is conducting oversight hearings on a motion to write off historic debts.

Oshakati Town Council does not have historic debts, however, it has an outstanding invoice for October of N$2.3 million.

NORED customers in the Oshana Region owe the electricity utility N$3.6 million.

Of this, N$734,000 has been outstanding for more than a year.

The information was shared during the hearing of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Development at Oshakati on the motion to write off historic electricity and water debts in the Oshana, Oshikoto, and Otjozondjupa Regions.

The motion was tabled by the Landless People's Movement's (LPM) MP, Henny Seibeb.

The Ondangwa, Ongwediva, and Oshakati town councils accompanied Vice President Nangolo Mbumba during his visit to several projects, where he was provided with progress updates and information on challenges experienced.

The Vice President received a brief overview of developments at Ondangwa Town Council before he proceeded to Extension 26, where the council recently initiated the construction of houses.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services will build new hospitals and upgrade others in the country.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula says, the building and upgrading of some of the hospitals will allow patients to get special treatment in their regions without having to travel long distances. 

The district hospitals will be constructed in Windhoek, Nkurenkuru, Ondangwa and Otjiwarongo and a referral hospital in the Oshana Region is also on the books.

The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) is currently constructing 65 houses at Gobabis, 50 at Omuthiya, 70 at Okahao, 33 at Tsandi, and 24 at Ondangwa.

The houses will be constructed predominantly through phase 2 of the NHE’s turnkey construction model (RFP) and are expected to cost N$75 million.

Through this model, NHE contracts with private developers on a turnkey basis. This model requires NHE to partner with private financiers who construct houses using their own capital and are only paid after the sale of the constructed houses.

Police in the Oshana Region are investigating a robbery with aggravating circumstances that occurred when three men robbed a Chinese national at Ondangwa.

The robbery took place at the Okapana service station in Ondangwa when three men, two of them armed with pistols, attacked a Chinese national who was filling up his car.

Before fleeing the scene, they robbed him of a cell phone valued at more than N$14,000 and cash worth more than N$600,000.

The suspects fled with a rented sedan, which was later found abandoned at the Kalapuse guest house at Okandjengedi.

The Office of the Ombudsman, in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Namibia-Angola, hosted a three-day training on access to justice and the legislative framework at Ondangwa in the Oshana Region.

The workshop discussed the combating of gender-based violence, trafficking of persons, child care and protection, crime, Wills and Estates, community courts, and investigation of maladministration and human rights violations.

Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba unveiled a statue in honour of the late liberation struggle stalwart, Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, at Ondangwa in the Oshana Region.

Mbumba described the late Ya Toivo as a great freedom fighter, statesman, and a true, patriotic Namibian.

The statue's unveiling follows the renaming of Ondangwa Airport to the Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo Airport in 2019.

Mbumba says Ya Toivo embodied the highest values of bravery, peace, compassion and human dignity.