Corporates urged to support Kavango West festival

RUNDU – The Kavango West Development Fund, which was established two years ago, is organising a fundraising festival and sports tournament next month.

The fundraiser is aimed at eradicating poverty in the region by way of assisting needy schoolgoing children and tertiary students from the region.

The fund came to life during the first Kavango West Regional Investment Conference held in October 2019.

At the end of the conference in the evening, a fundraising gala dinner was held to launch the region’s development fund, and raised over N$200 000.

The fund has been assisting students and learners with school fees and tuition. Beneficiaries go through a selection process before being awarded by the board.

However, since its establishment, the fund has not come up with a sustainable model and has not initiated activities to raise funds because of Covid-19 that limited movements and engagements.

“We are introducing a festival, which will come in different settings annually to raise money for the fund. This is an idea to get money into the fund for it to be operational,” Salomo Tenga, spokesperson of the Kavango West Regional Council, noted.

The festival is slated for 5 to 7 May at Nkurenkuru.

“It aims to attract over 40 exhibitors,” said Tenga, who is spearheading the activities of the fund.

“We are engaging our stakeholders to support the region’s initiative. Our region is young and needs support from stakeholders in order to grow in various aspects. The fund is going to assist many people in this region through education and other needs,” he added.

“We wrote letters inviting different stakeholders. They are welcome to come and market or exhibit their services and operations, as exposure is important,’’ he urged.

Apart from selected sports activities like soccer, netball and volleyball, the event will have live musical shows.

“The Kavango West Development Fund board that will govern the fund consists of board members with different expertise and background. It also includes youth and people living with disability,” Tenga said.

The constitution of the fund allows for the incumbent chief regional officer to serve as the chairperson of the board. Mpasi Haingura is the board chair.

The fund has since its establishment in 2019 donated chairs and tables to the Sinzogoro Primary School when a

classroom burned down two years ago, and also donated chairs and tables to the Nkurenkuru Combined School in 2021 where a lack of chairs was experienced.