Irate villagers told to petition minister
RUNDU – The chairperson of the Kavango East regional council Damian Maghambayi said his office has not received an official letter of complaint from residents of the Mashare constituency who have accused their councillor, Philip Mavara, of being incompetent.
Maghambayi said this in an interview with Nampa this week following an incident last week Friday, where residents in the Mashare constituency had to be stopped by the Namibian Police as they wanted to forcefully close down Mavara’s office in that constituency. The group from Muroro village accused the councillor of failing to perform and execute his duties as a councillor since he was sworn in during 2015. They charged that the councillor does not call the community members for meetings, neither has he brought development since he took office. According to them, they are also not informed about the developmental budget of the constituency nor given a report in that regard. “Councillor Mavara was not our first choice to begin with when we went for national elections. He was imposed on us for fear that the opposition groups would take over,” they claimed.
Maghambayi said what he knows when communities have grievances of this nature is that 25% of the electorate in that constituency can petition the minister responsible for regional councils. He said once that is done, the minister can institute an inquiry into the matter. “The 25% of the electorate can also approach the political party the accused councillor serves, which in this regard is the ruling Swapo Party, for it to also institute an investigation into the accusations,” he added.
Swapo Kavango East regional coordinator Ottilie Shinduvi said she is aware of the matter, but an official complaint has not been brought to her office yet. However, she said, the incident has to be handled at district level first before it is brought to her office.
Mavara, on his part, refuted the allegations levelled against him, saying what he is going through is a witchhunt by those he dethroned during the elections. “The Mashare constituency is the most developed as there are various agricultural projects that have employed thousands of locals,” he retorted.