RUNDU – Kavango West Regional Council chairperson Josef Sivaku Sikongo, says out of the N$85 billion promised by the ruling Swapo party in its last election manifesto, the region will require N$6 billion to execute its developmental plans.

The development plans are being finalised at the weeklong strategic planning workshop currently under way at Rundu. To avoid local distractions, regional council delegates travelled to Rundu in Kavango East to deliberate on their strategic roadmap for their 2025-2030 regional development.

The Swapo Party manifesto that inspired Namibians to vote the ruling party back into power, contains a budget of N$85 billion for the next 5-6 years to fulfil its contractual obligations with the Namibian electorate.

“Our strategic plan in its current draft will need more than N$6 billion to execute effectively,” Sikongo said.

He said the region is in dire need of offices to house government services for easier development and service delivery to inhabitants and as they put heads together, it should be done with the thought of the people that are in need of government services.

“We should think of what this plan will mean to that family that lost their loved ones due to a crocodile attack, because of not having access to potable water. Let’s ask ourselves how this document is going to improve the lives of those that go to bed not knowing where their next meal is coming from. Let’s ask ourselves how this plan will contribute and ensure that, the unemployed graduate from Satotwa village is finally employed,” he said.

Sikongo said said there is a need for the council to seriously consider what value this strategic plan will add to the life of that grandmother with 10 vulnerable children in her household, with only her pension grant to cater for them all.

“Our region has the highest unemployment rate at 52.8%, based on the latest report from the Namibia Statistics Agency. This is mostly a result of the slow progress in establishing government services and infrastructure in our region. Therefore, our plan should include the need for all delegated functions to construct their regional offices. Ministries such as Education Arts and Culture; Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare; Agriculture, Water and Land Reform; Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation; and Sport, Youth and National Service, just to mention a few, are renting houses to operate from as they have no offices of their own,’’ he noted.

“In this regard, the region urgently requires at least N$610 million for the construction of regional offices. The establishment of these offices, with fully fledged staff compliments and services will significantly contribute to the reduction of the unemployment rate in our region,” he said.

The chairperson said as they gather in the next few days, they should all be reminded that they are gathering with a collective and shared purpose, to come up with a strategic plan that will serve as a guiding tool for achieving their mission, vision, goals and objectives.

Cabinet recently directed all regional councils and OMAs to incorporate the Swapo manifesto into their plans and ensure budgetary provisions for smooth implementation. “We are expected to submit our draft and annual plans to the OPM for validation by 30 March,” said Mathews Singambwe, the chief regional officer for the Kavango West Regional Council.

“What is important is that we are able to do this exercise without a consultant, although in the circular we were given leeway to also bring in a consultant, but we managed to do it in-house,” he said. The workshop which started on Monday ends today.