Has Windhoek completely lost its status as one of the cleanest cities in Africa?

Sarah Iyaloo Negumbo In the past, Windhoek boasted of being at the top of the list of the cleanest cities in Africa. That accolade made some of us very proud of our country upon being complimented by people that visited our city. During my fresher year at the Namibia University of Science & Technology, one of the elective modules I enjoyed covered four topics, namely municipal by-laws, littering, beautification and sources of income for municipalities, as part of the public management course. It was an introduction to the functions and roles of town/city councils and the disciplines that govern local authorities. Among these four topics, one topic caught my full attention, that is, the beautification of the city/town. Years later, I was very impressed to discover that Scotland, in one of its structures has a position for a beautification manager – a powerful position, responsible for keeping the environment not only clean, but also attractive to promote tourism. In Namibia, I deem this position to be equivalent to either managers of parks and gardens or managers of tourism or along those lines. If this position and its functions were taken seriously, it would indeed ensure that Windhoek and Namibia as a whole regain the reputation of being among the cleanest cities/countries in Africa. Or have we completely given up on this status? It is quite disturbing to see, for instance, a person tossing rubbish to the ground or throwing it from a moving vehicle without any sign of guilt or, worse still, with no recognition whatsoever that what he/she is doing is completely wrong. Having observed this sort of behaviour on many occasions, I have come to the conclusion that ignorance is a crime of the highest order and that it needs to be condemned at all costs. I am assertive that it is not too late to reinforce rigorous awareness campaigns about environmental cleanliness in all the cities and towns, and the country in its entirety. And good hygiene practices need to be instilled in all of us at an early age. Going back to Scotland, as a good example of ensuring the cleanest environment and beautifying the city, they have established a charity organisation called Keep Scotland Beautiful, which runs campaigns to educate people on how to take better care of the environment. The organisation runs yearly competitions and awards, to maintain the momentum of keeping the country clean. These competitions and awards are techniques of recognising the effort being made by communities, local authorities and businesses across Scotland, with the aim of ensuring that local spaces are kept clean, green and beautiful. It is amazing to see how earnestly the citizens of Scotland take this initiative. I am sure that if the inhabitants of Namibia emulated Scotland, and many other countries that keep their spaces clean, and introduced such concepts into their communities and sensitised the local authorities to take part, it would indeed yield good results. In order to ensure that Namibia and its cities/towns are clean, it is best if all citizens play their part, i.e. clean their surroundings, educate the next person about hygiene and cleanliness, and also take part in the activities on National Clean-up Day, among other awareness campaigns. Sarah Iyaloo Negumbo is an information management specialist.

Has Windhoek completely lost its status as one of the cleanest cities in Africa?

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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Has Windhoek completely lost its status as one of the cleanest cities in Africa?

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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