Muharukua defiant

The governor of Kunene Region, Angelika Muharukua, has been accused of interfering in the affairs of the Opuwo Town Council following allegations that she instructed the councillors at the town not to entertain a petition by the Opuwo Community Concerned Group.The group took to the streets on 10 June airing their dissatisfaction with the town’s chief executive officer, whom they accused of holding back development at the town for the past decade. The group say they have not heard anything from the council since then, despite several efforts made to meet with the mayor.Muharukua this week confirmed having given the directive, but added it never said the councillors must not respond. She rather questioned why they are demonstrating now while there are new councillors. “Now that we have four out of seven councillors representing Swapo and the governor is also from Swapo, this is the time they are demonstrating. The issue of Opuwo mismanagement is not a new issue, but they never demonstrated,” Muharukua told Namibian Sun.Muharukua further vented her frustration that the group also wrote to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) that sent officials to investigate the town last week. “Those people must not play with me. They are doing these things because I am a woman. I know that some of them are aiming for the town’s top position and they are bringing funny political games to win, but they will not win as long as I am here. All the councillors are new in office,” she said.Muharukua announced on 6 July during her state of the region address that the Opuwo Concerned Group is a group of public servants who brought Affirmative Repositioning (AR) to Opuwo to demonstrate. She said these civil servants are giving land to themselves to make the town look bad and now they are bringing AR to demonstrate. The group, however, alleges that there has been no development in Opuwo since 2006, when the town council appointed Alfons Tjitombo as CEO. They say Tjitombo has failed to fill key positions in the council, which has delayed the development of the town.They claim that the town council has eight vital positions that have not been filled for years, namely; technical manager, finance manager, town planner, building inspector, environmental health officer, fire fighter, public relations officer and the CEO’s personal assistant. They claim that this is the reason why development in their town is slow because the town council does not have the required staff to carry out its functions effectively and efficiently.The group charges that the town has had no improvement in its roads, public toilets, open market or shopping and recreational facilities, and that the town is dirty.The group also accused the council of failing to recover N$2.5 million, which was paid to businessman Veikko Haimbodi of Dolly Investment during the 2013/14 financial year to procure material from South Africa to construct a N$4.6-million storm water drainage system.Allegedly, these material were never purchased. In November 2014, the town council revoked the tender and awarded it to another company that completed the work in less than two months.“We are peacefully requesting that the CEO’s contract not be reviewed, but we would like the councillors to investigate him and his dealings. We need officials that have the residents at heart. We would like a response within 30 days, and failure to do so will cause us to take the next step,” the group’s 6 June petition read.It has alleged that the council met and were ready to respond to the group’s requests, but Muharukua intervened and ordered them not to respond.The mayor of Opuwo, Albert Tjiuma, told Namibian Sun that the council has met and they responded to the group. He undertook to provide Namibian Sun with a copy of the response but to date has not done so.ILENINANDJATO

Muharukua defiant

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-29

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Muharukua defiant

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-29

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