Anchua Naruseb
The residents of Koës village in the //Kharas region are concerned about governance in the town council and have asked the Minister of Urban and Rural Development (MURD) to intervene.
This is not the first time that the residents raised their concerns; they had expressed frustration over the local council’s failure to respond to a range of issues since 2019.
Despite numerous attempts to obtain comment from the leadership, the Koës Village Council is yet to respond to questions from the New Era.
The community allegedly reached out to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD) through a letter, outlining concerns regarding the lack of development in the village since the local authority elections; alleged dictatorial rule of the councillors; lack of communication between council members and community and unfair dismissal of the town’s CEO, Willie Humphries.
On Wednesday, the ministry said it had not yet received the letter.
New Era spoke to community activist Niklaas Kooper, who said the community had brought up their concerns in community meetings before.
According to the community, the council’s decisions end in the council’s chambers without consultations and input from the community members.
“We want the councillors to operate with the guided tools of the government; for example, the local authorities Act, standing rules of order and code of conduct,” Kooper stated.
The community also said the annual budget and development programmes are known only to council, and no consultations with the community took place.
In addition, the community asked in the letter for the MURD to look into the dismissal of the CEO, which they claim is unfair.
“We, as the community, have only witnessed the dismissal of the CEO, without any official notification to the community, neither to the officials of the council – and through consultation, we have come to note that the process was highly unprocedural in terms of the personnel rules and laws,” they stated.
“We also ask for the minister to intervene to rescue our community from the disastrous unorganised and weak leadership. We have also forwarded a report of corrupt activities to the Anti-Corruption Commission and the procurement policy unit,” Kooper added.
The community members said they no longer have confidence in the council and thereby strongly calls for the council to be dissolved as a matter of urgency.
“The council can no more operate on the expense of the poverty-stricken society, camouflaging under the banner of false hope and empty promises, much less can we no more be tolerant of the aggressive, yet fruitless leadership,” said the community.