As Namibia heads toward the local authority elections this November, one cannot help but look around our towns and villages and ask: What has become of us? The decay is not only physical but moral, institutional, and systemic.
Our local authorities, which should be the engines of development and custodians of urban dignity, have instead become symbols of mismanagement, neglect, and corruption. What we are witnessing is not just decline; it is the slow, painful death of our towns, one municipality at a time.
From Dreams of Housing to Settlements of Despair
Drive into almost any Namibian town today, and the first sight to greet you is not the welcoming architecture of progress, but endless stretches of informal settlements, the rows upon rows of corrugated iron shacks, often without water, electricity, or sanitation. The words of Martin Luther King echo hauntingly, but with a Namibian twist: the basic mobility of our people has become the journey from one ghetto to another, from smaller informal settlements to larger ones.
Gone are the days when the majority of Namibians dreamt of dignified housing, built with proper planning and infrastructure. Today, many are just content to find a tiny patch of land to erect a shack. Our leaders seem to have normalised this indignity, treating it as an unavoidable reality rather than a national crisis. The tragedy is that the shack, once a temporary refuge for the urban poor, has now become a permanent fixture in our towns, symbolising the failure of housing policies and the absence of visionary urban planning.
The Rise of Omatala, Shebeens, and Betting Shops
Our towns have also been overrun by chaotic, unregulated trading spaces masquerading as economic activity. The so-called informal markets, “omatala”, have become unsightly, unhygienic hubs, often without proper waste management or basic sanitation. Instead of being integrated into structured economic plans, they have been left to fester, turning entire town centers into health hazards.
Adding to this urban decay is the proliferation of shebeens and betting shops. These establishments have mushroomed in almost every street, preying on poverty and desperation. Shebeens have replaced parks as social spaces, and gambling shops have become the new ‘economic hubs’ where hopes are dashed daily. The authorities look the other way, as licenses are handed out indiscriminately, often greased by corruption. The result is towns where the only visible forms of business are alcohol, gambling, and unregulated street trade.
Raw Sewage, Refuse and Dead Infrastructure
In some towns, raw sewage runs openly through streets, untreated and unaddressed. The sewerage systems, often decades old, have collapsed under pressure because maintenance is non-existent. The stench of decay is both literal and metaphorical. Refuse removal happens if and when the trucks are operational and not stuck in a garage, broken down. Streetlights that once guided our paths are out, with no replacements in years, sometimes decades. Roads that were once tarred have eroded to gravel, leaving vehicles battered and accidents frequent. This infrastructure collapse is not an accident of history; it is a direct result of neglect and the diversion of funds meant for development into the pockets of a few.
Where Are the Parks, Gardens, and Civic Pride?
There was a time when our towns took pride in their parks and gardens, where children played, families picnicked, and communities gathered. Today, most of these spaces are either gone or have been transformed into dumping grounds, littered with empty alcohol bottles and refuse. The trees have been chopped down, lawns uprooted, and no effort made to replace them. The absence of green spaces is not just an environmental concern, it is a reflection of how little our local authorities value the well-being of their residents.
Leadership Failure: The Root of the Decay
The decay of our towns cannot be separated from the decay of leadership. Our local authorities have become havens for political patronage. Councillors are appointed not based on merit or vision, but on connections, loyalty to party structures, or how much noise they make in political gatherings. Competency, qualifications, and a genuine passion for service delivery are rarely considered.
The political parties themselves have failed to establish clear, merit-based criteria for selecting candidates. The result is a governance system where unqualified individuals manage multimillion-dollar budgets and critical infrastructure, with predictable results: collapsed services, corrupt tendering, and self-enrichment at the expense of the public.
Local councils have turned into centers for employment creation for party loyalists and, even more worryingly, into avenues for looting. Tenders for waste collection, road maintenance, housing projects, and sewerage systems are awarded to cronies who either lack the capacity to deliver or have no intention of delivering. The public suffers while those in power enrich themselves.
What Went Wrong?
Namibia’s towns are not dying by accident; they are being killed by neglect, incompetence, and corruption. The warning signs have been visible for years, but our political leadership has chosen to ignore them. The central government has failed to hold local authorities accountable, while local authorities have failed to serve the people who elected them. The answer to what went wrong lies in one simple but uncomfortable truth: we have allowed politics to triumph over governance. The absence of a professionalised, accountable local government system has created fertile ground for decay. Without radical reform, our towns will continue to deteriorate, dragging the country down with them.
The Road Ahead: A Call to Action
The upcoming local authority elections offer a rare opportunity for Namibians to demand better. Citizens must reject the recycled candidates who have presided over this mess and instead vote for leaders with proven integrity, competence, and vision. It is no longer enough to vote along party lines; the stakes are too high. Furthermore, political parties must take responsibility for their role in this crisis. They must implement strict criteria for selecting candidates, prioritise qualifications and leadership skills, and ensure that those who fail to deliver are removed.
Civil society must also step in to hold local authorities accountable, demanding transparency in budgeting, tender processes, and service delivery. We must refuse to accept the normalisation of squalor, the acceptance of shacks as housing policy, and the toleration of sewage as urban planning.
No More Excuses
We stand at a crossroads. The slow death of our towns is not inevitable; it is the result of human choices, bad choices. But with the right leadership, the right policies, and the right civic pressure, we can reverse this decline.
Namibians must rise above apathy and demand accountability. We must refuse to let our towns become graveyards of dreams, littered with broken infrastructure and broken promises. The elections in November are not just about choosing councillors; they are about choosing whether we allow the rot to continue or whether we begin the long, difficult work of rebuilding.
The time for excuses is over. The time for action is now. Our towns, our dignity, and our future depend on it.
