Our plights are ignored - Kavango East leadership
The Kavango East regional leadership says it has on several occasions approached the central government to provide assistance to impoverished communities in the region; however, such cries have fallen on deaf ears.
These are the sentiments of Damian Maghambayi, the chairperson of the Kavango East management committee, following the death of 16 people who made national headlines after dying of suspected food poisoning.
Maghambayi has clapped back at central government after it accused the regional leadership of not being on the ground to identify the issues people in the community are faced with.
The 16 people - all members of one Kayova village family - died after consuming a meal of mahangu, which had previously been used for a traditional brew, towards the end of last month.
At a mass funeral held last Saturday, defence minister Frans Kapofi, who read a speech on behalf of government, said tragedies linked to hunger occur as a result of leaders not being on the ground.
To this, Maghambayi said it’s a pity that central government would publicly make a statement of that nature while the state is failing to provide adequate resources to the region.
These resources could then assist in addressing the challenges residents are faced with, he said.
No budget
He pointed out that the region has on numerous occasion informed government of the dire need for resources, but their requests are not taken into consideration.
He further revealed that the region’s disaster risk management committee does not have a budget. When challenges arise, requests are handled through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), he said.
Maghambayi said at some point they were advised to budget for disaster risk management, but the urban and rural development ministry refused, saying this falls under the OPM.
“It is really unfair for such a statement to come from central government, blaming the regional government that we are not taking care of our people,” he said.
“We even have it on record when we contacted the OPM that we wanted funds and they said we must budget for our own disasters in the region.
“We then submitted a budget to our own line ministry and again on record we were told ‘it is not our responsibility, but that of OPM’.”
No resources
“Now we have a regional disaster risk management committee, which I chair, without any budget,” Maghambayi fumed.
“There is no budgetary provision and it is not fair.
"The only thing we can do is to empower the regions. We are on the ground and we know who is suffering, but we don’t have the resources.”
The chairperson added that government should increase the funding to the region in order for issues to be addressed amicably.
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These are the sentiments of Damian Maghambayi, the chairperson of the Kavango East management committee, following the death of 16 people who made national headlines after dying of suspected food poisoning.
Maghambayi has clapped back at central government after it accused the regional leadership of not being on the ground to identify the issues people in the community are faced with.
The 16 people - all members of one Kayova village family - died after consuming a meal of mahangu, which had previously been used for a traditional brew, towards the end of last month.
At a mass funeral held last Saturday, defence minister Frans Kapofi, who read a speech on behalf of government, said tragedies linked to hunger occur as a result of leaders not being on the ground.
To this, Maghambayi said it’s a pity that central government would publicly make a statement of that nature while the state is failing to provide adequate resources to the region.
These resources could then assist in addressing the challenges residents are faced with, he said.
No budget
He pointed out that the region has on numerous occasion informed government of the dire need for resources, but their requests are not taken into consideration.
He further revealed that the region’s disaster risk management committee does not have a budget. When challenges arise, requests are handled through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), he said.
Maghambayi said at some point they were advised to budget for disaster risk management, but the urban and rural development ministry refused, saying this falls under the OPM.
“It is really unfair for such a statement to come from central government, blaming the regional government that we are not taking care of our people,” he said.
“We even have it on record when we contacted the OPM that we wanted funds and they said we must budget for our own disasters in the region.
“We then submitted a budget to our own line ministry and again on record we were told ‘it is not our responsibility, but that of OPM’.”
No resources
“Now we have a regional disaster risk management committee, which I chair, without any budget,” Maghambayi fumed.
“There is no budgetary provision and it is not fair.
"The only thing we can do is to empower the regions. We are on the ground and we know who is suffering, but we don’t have the resources.”
The chairperson added that government should increase the funding to the region in order for issues to be addressed amicably.
[email protected]
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