Angry protesters demand clarity over missing millions
The Namibian police had to be called in to contain a group of angry residents backed by constituency councillor Knowledge Ipinge after threatening to storm the Walvis Bay municipal offices when no one supposedly turned up to receive their petition yesterday.
The group of about 150 people marched through the streets of Kuisebmond and town protesting against poor service delivery and demanding clarity on the N$24 million that is unaccounted for by the municipality.
According to Ipinge, they have it on record that millions linked to over 40 registered houses due to the municipality are missing and unaccounted for by relevant departments, hence they are demanding answers.
“We also have it on record that the municipality dished out close to N$1.4 million to a security company to guard 80 houses that were constructed under the mass urban land servicing project,” Ipinge said.
He stressed that this is pure misuse of municipal funds and demanded that a forensic audit be launched into the project itself.
Ipinge, who is running for reelection as an independent candidate for Walvis Bay urban constituency, noted that the relevant paperwork with regard to the irregularities has been handed over to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
“It is high time that the municipality stops misusing funds and the responsible parties are removed from their positions and charged with immediate effect. We are demanding that the municipality be peoplecentred, accessible and directed towards job creation and service delivery,” he said.
Meanwhile, the group blocked the entrance to the main municipal building, as Walvis Bay chief executive officer, Muronga Haingura, whom they demanded to hand over the petition to, was not available due to engagements with the urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni.
When contacted by the media, Haingura said that due to other engagements the spokesperson of the municipality, Kevin Adams, was delegated to receive the petition on their behalf.
“They refused to hand it over to Adams and I am currently in a meeting and unavailable,” Haingura said.