Lack of budget not stopping Oniipa

The Oniipa CEO Junias Jakob said he was delighted by the ideas presented during a stakeholders' consultative workshop held to formulate the town's strategic plan last week. The town, situated in the Oshikoto Region, is in the process of formulating its first-ever strategic plan entirely on its own. No consultants are being used and community participation is guiding the process. Jakob said the Friday meeting was a success and the town's key stakeholders, including traditional authorities, the business community, institutions and community were actively involved. “From the meeting we obtained ideas on how to draft the document. Stakeholders gave us key elements including a mission, core values and our strategic objectives. Members were very involved and I am happy with that. We are now going to compile everything to come up with a draft that we will present to them again. After those changes, we will make a final presentation to them and then, take out document to the council,” Jakob said. He said he hopes that everything will be ready for endorsement by the end of July. This will be the first strategic plan for Oniipa and will guide the town planning from 2019 to 2023. Chairperson of the management committee Thomas Matsi said: “We are in the process of formulating our first-ever strategic plan that will lead us from 2019 to 2023. This is the first consultation meeting where we are engaging our key stakeholders on our planning. As residents of our town you are all welcome to bring forward every idea on how you would like your town to look or be like. We must all contribute in order to avoid pointing fingers at each other when things are not going right.” Instead of hiring a consultant to draft the town's strategic plan, Oniipa opted to be assisted by the Otjiwarongo Municipality strategic executive for community services Agatha Mweti who was facilitating Friday's discussion. Mweti said that she is volunteering her skills and experience and expects no payment. Jakob informed stakeholders that Oniipa was not properly formalised and only has two proclaimed townships of Onethindi proper and Onethindi Extension One. “This meeting came at the right time. We only have two fully formalised townships while the rest is just town lands. We currently depend on a government subsidy as a source of income, but our revenue collections are also picking up slowly. However, we cannot allow this to prevent us from formulating ideas to develop our town,” Jakob said. “Another challenge we have is that we are under-staffed. Council should employ 23 but only 15 positions are filled. Despite that, this is a dynamic and dedicated team that is ready to move the town forward.” In June last year the Oniipa town council and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) entered into a strategic partnership agreement that will tap into the church's rich history, networks and land assets to bring about development. ELCIN owns most of the town's prime land. Onandjokwe, the central attraction, was founded by Finnish missionaries in 1911. It became the Finnish stronghold in Namibia and later became ELCIN's head office. The church developed the area and obtained large tracts of land. When Oniipa was proclaimed in 2015, the church had developed infrastructure that includes the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital.ILENI NANDJATO

Lack of budget not stopping Oniipa

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-18

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Lack of budget not stopping Oniipa

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-18

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