John Muyamba
RUNDU – The Kavango East Regional Council has appointed the institution’s director for human resources, finance and administration Ludgela Nangura as the new chief regional officer to replace Ludwig Thikusho, who went on retirement last month.
On 1 November, Nangura became the region’s second CRO since it was established in 2013. She started her journey in the public service at the ministry of education in Rundu as a registry clerk in 1990. “I upgraded my qualifications, was promoted to human resources practitioner (HRP) and later to senior HRP. In 2003, I was transferred from education and joined the then Kavango Regional Council, where I was afterwards promoted to chief HR and subsequently became a deputy director for HR,’’ she explained.
In December 2019, Nangura was promoted to full director of HR, finance and administration, a position she kept until 1 November 2022 when she became the new CRO for KERC. “I have an honours degree, majoring in human resources,” she noted.
Nangura said during the interview with New Era that top of her priority list is to see more local authorities and settlements emerge during her tenure to uplift rural areas. At the moment, Rundu is the only urban centre that caters for the vast Kavango East region.
The Divundu Village Council in the Mukwe constituency was proclaimed a village council in 2015 with the elections of the first local authority councillors in November 2016. Since then, no other local authorities have been proclaimed.
The Ndiyona village, which is on the boundary of the Ndonga Linena and Ndiyona constituencies, has since being proclaimed as a settlement in December 2007 not graduated to a local authority to date. Constituency inhabitants have thus been seeking services, but businesses cannot set up shop as the land is not yet bankable.
Businesses cannot make use of financial loans to build facilities due to its status, which is a challenge with regards to land ownership. “The issue of the Ndiyona settlement, which we are aiming to develop, although challenges of resources are there, should not stop us in progressing, or stop us from doing what we can do together. We should continue to identify more growth points. Muroro in the Mashare constituency has been long-overdue. It was identified as a growth point five to six years ago,’’ she continued.
Nangura told this publication that she will be happy to see Ndiyona proclaimed as a local authority during her five-year term, as well as see upgrades of other villages in the region’s constituencies.
“I am ready for the challenge. Whatever a man can do in terms of work, a woman can do. I will face the challenges head-on, and my principles dictate that when things need to be done, it should be done. Because it’s my responsibility to execute certain duties or activities within the KERC, it will be addressed. But for sure, we will do it collectively with my colleagues,” Nangura enthused.