Onkaankaa
Residents of the Onkaankaa village in the Otamanzi Constituency of the Omusati Region feel excluded from national developments, especially with regards to the provision of basic amenities, such as clean water, clinics, or schools.
Situated about 71 kilometers south-east of Okahao, inhabitants of Onkaankaa village resort to using brackish water from boreholes for human, livestock and other household needs, as there is still no provision of potable water 25 years after independence.
Residents believe that government has failed them, as there is still no cellphone network coverage at the village, no clinic or police station, despite their repeated pleas to this effect.
According to one resident, Maria Negumbo, the villagers suffer a lot due to the lack of basic services, especially in case of emergencies, such as veld fires or when a resident is bitten by a snake and needs medical attention.
“We are forced to travel 45 kilometers on donkey carts to Otamanzi to seek medical help as there is no network to call the ambulance and people often end up losing their lives on the way,” she says.
Negumbo adds that they are also left out when it comes to the registration of social programme grants, such as that allocated to war veterans, orphans and vulnerable children.
Another resident, Selma Mavulu, urged the government to at least consider providing them with clean water, as the situation poses a major health hazard to them and their children.
Onkaankaa village has only one school, Dr Ndeutala Angolo, with three teachers offering grades one to four. Learners in grades one to three are taught in one combined class, a situation that is not acceptable, according to the Otamanzi Constituency Councillor, Johannes Iiyambo.
The councilor attributed the lack of development and services at the village to strict governmental criteria when it comes to the construction of service offices in the country.
He said several attempts had been made to bring services closer to the people, but policies such as that of the Health Ministry, which state that for a clinic to be constructed at a certain village there must be a population of at least 8,000 persons in the village.
This, he says, leaves rural people, such as those of Onkaankaa without any clinic, as there are only 58 households and about 300 inhabitants, the majority of whom are San.
Iiyambo says this leaves the locals with no choice but to either travel 22 km to Onkani village or 45 km to Otamanzi village to get assistance from clinics or the police.
Earlier this month, the Governor of Omusati Region, Erginus Endjala, revealed that only about 30 per cent of the region’s inhabitants currently have access to clean water, a deplorable situation.
Tragically, the Omusati Region is also ranked third in the country when it comes to malnutrition within the general population.
* Lot Shikongo is an information officer working for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in the Omusati Region.