By: Finna Kahili

Residents of the Zambezi region express dissatisfaction over this year’s independence celebrations coming to Katima Mulilo. 

The residents say that despite the peace and tranquility enjoyed by all citizens during the past 34 years, there are frequent water and power outages in the town, while the infrastructure is in a poor state. 

According to the Namibia Statistic Agency (NSA) population per region, Zambezi is among the least populated regions in the country with a population size of 142,000 people. 

One of the residents, Muhongo Mutwa shared his thoughts with NewsOnOne.

“I would say that our town council has let us down, to an extent that many people will not make it to the sports field, due to lack of water. They have engaged with Redforce to close the people’s water and half of the town is without water,” says Mutwa.

Another resident, Sario Sambandala, shared her perspective on the decision to host the celebrations in the region. She encouraged fellow residents to actively participate and engage with the visiting leaders on the situation in the town regarding service delivery. 

Mwilima Geoffrey also raised concerns over the state of the town’s infrastructure, he compared the town that once flourished under the apartheid era but is now in a dilapidated state under the town council’s management. He stated that it has now become a bushy area and that the roads are filled with potholes. 

“If you look around, the suburb has turned into a rainforest. Regional council has never attended to these areas, roads are not done there are just potholes and plunge pools of roads,” said Mwilima.

The independence celebrations will be hosted in the Zambezi Region for the first time since the country gained independence in 1990. Efforts to get comments from the regional governor  Lawrence Sampofu and the Mayor of Katima Mulilo John Ntemwa were futile.