Hertta-Maria Amutenja
Urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa has defended his decision to dissolve the Katima Mulilo Town Council, saying councillors failed to carry out their functions and engaged in an unlawful land-for-vehicles transaction.
Speaking in Katima Mulilo on Wednesday, Sankwasa said the deal was invalid because land gains value while vehicles lose value.
In May, Sankwasa accused councillors of selling land without approval and ordered the return of vehicles acquired in the land-for-vehicles deal.
Councillors, including mayor John Ntemwa, denied wrongdoing and accused the minister of tribalism and interference.
Last month, more than 1 000 residents protested against alleged corruption at the council, demanding accountability.
“Land is a fixed property that appreciates over the years, while vehicles depreciate. If you take land and vehicles of the same value on the same day, after a year the value of land will have appreciated and the cars’ value will have depreciated. So the two can never be exchanged. Even if by mistake the minister had approved it, it would still have been an illegal transaction, in the sense that the values would not correspond,” he said.
He said he had ordered the deal to stop but during his visit found activities already taking place on the disputed land.
“Local authority members went ahead in public and brought in issues of tribalism. I don’t know where tribalism fits where land is exchanged for vehicles,” he said.
The decision to dissolve the council took effect on 15 August, as gazetted the next day under notice number 194.
Sankwasa invoked section 92(2) of the Local Authorities Act of 1992 to remove all councillors and assume their powers and duties.
He told residents that until an administrator is appointed, chief executive officer Raphael Liswaniso will report directly to him.
“In terms of the Act, the powers that were performed by the town council now fall directly under my office. I am therefore going to be in charge of Katima Mulilo Town Council. The act states that the minister will be in charge personally or appoint a representative who will work under my direction. Hence the CEO will report directly to me,” he said.
Sankwasa also cited the council’s handling of human resources and finances.
He said councillors ignored his directive to resolve disputes internally and instead hired lawyers, paying N$60 000 in legal fees.
“My clear directive was that these matters be held internally by the councils, not externally by lawyers. But the council went ahead and paid N$60 000 for lawyers, something that I tried to say we don’t have money for in the local authority, but I was not listened to. Instead we were two bulls in one kraal. I have to stop the behaviour of a bull acting like it’s in a china shop,” he said.
He stressed that all councillors were removed, even those who may not have supported the disputed decisions.
“It is not every councillor of Katima Mulilo Town Council; some councillors might not have been part of these irregular and unlawful decisions, but a council is one, and a council takes a resolution. Even those who were not there are bound by that decision, and that’s how the whole council had to leave,” he said.
Sankwasa also appeared to respond to criticism from former prime minister Nahas Angula, who recently urged him to build trust with councils.
Without naming Angula, he questioned the record of his critic.
“I saw a comment from our senior citizen, a person who has been a prime minister and minister of education since independence for a long time, saying I am using a combative approach. I don’t know what my senior is alluding to, but all I can say is that my comrade senior should check his legacy in the education sector for independence; is it the best legacy or not? My senior comrade is a citizen residing in Oshikoto, where Omuthiya is a town council. Omuthiya Town Council has not produced a budget for the last two years. I don’t know if my senior is aware. I am simply doing my job,” he said.
Sankwasa has also clashed with other local authorities.
He recently accused the Stampriet Village Council of partisan recruitment and dismissed the former mayor of Omuthiya for contravening the Local Authorities Act by living and working in Windhoek.
Despite criticism, Sankwasa said he will continue with his mandate.
“I am simply doing my job. When the time comes to stop and go home, I will go. But for now, this is my mandate,” he said.
