OTJIWARONGO – Otjiwarongo Municipality is pushing ahead with plans to establish a new housing materials factory expected to create jobs, lower housing costs and support government efforts to provide affordable homes across Namibia.
Mayor Leonard Simushi and municipality CEO Mberipura Hifitikeko revealed during an interview that the municipality has already offered land for the proposed factory, which would manufacture alternative building materials and complete housing components.
According to the municipal leaders, the project follows discussions with a Namibian-owned company supported by investors from Botswana and South Africa. The company plans to establish a full-blown manufacturing facility in Otjiwarongo because of the town’s central location.
“The ministry [of urban and rural development] requested us to offer them land because of the locality of Otjiwarongo. If the factory is set up here, then they can have better distribution routes,” Hifitikeko said.
Initially, the municipality expected the company to manufacture only alternative building panels, but the project has since expanded.
“They came back to us to say they want to do the full scope and produce everything that can complete a house,” Hifitikeko said.
According to him, the factory would manufacture roofing materials, aluminum windows, sanitation systems, and solar-related products alongside wall panels.
“We are really pushing that it materializes. It will bring a lot of employment to us,” Hifitikeko said.
The municipality further revealed that the company has proposed building about 1 000 pilot houses using alternative technologies designed to reduce servicing costs and speed up housing delivery.
“The good thing with them is that they can even set up a house even if the land is not serviced,” Hifitikeko said.
He said the technology includes alternative sanitation systems that could help government address housing shortages faster.
“It will be good in terms of dignifying the lives of our people,” he added. The municipality is currently finalising internal approval processes before the project can proceed.
“It was already in the management committee. Now it must go to council,” Simushi said.
At the same time, the duo highlighted additional steps being taken to improve residents’ lives, including debt relief for pensioners and efforts to reduce pressure on struggling households. The council recently resolved to write off around N$10 million owed by pensioners, subject to ministerial approval.
“We have recently resolved that we write off the debts of pensioners. Which is a good step,” Hifitikeko said. The municipality also ruled out using debt collection companies such as RedForce to recover municipal debt.
“RedForce is crippling our people. We are facing a situation of unemployment in the country. Electricity and water have become a serious burden. To bring RedForce would put more [worsen the] burden on our people,” Simushi said. Instead, the municipality said it prefers engaging residents directly and handling debt recovery case by case.
Additionally, despite inherited challenges, the municipality remains focused on long-term development and job creation.
“We inherited problems. But it is now our responsibility to fix them. All we are asking is that our people be patient with us for the next two to three years so that we will resolve them”,” Hifitikeko said.
According to Hifitikeko, the current council and management inherited serious infrastructure and financial problems that had built up over many years.
“These challenges are historical.
We inherited problems with roads, water infrastructure, sewer systems, housing backlogs and debt,” he said.
He said many municipal pipelines are old and damaged by Otjiwarongo’s high lime-content water, causing frequent pipe bursts and water losses.
The municipality is also battling a housing waiting list of more than
5 000 applicants, while rapid migration to the town continues to increase pressure on services and land delivery. Another major challenge is municipal debt owed by residents, which currently stands at around N$60 million.
Despite these difficulties, Hifitikeko said the municipality is determined to tackle the problems gradually.
“You know how you eat an elephant. You eat it bit by bit. We inherited many challenges, but we are fixing them one by one,” he said.
In addition, Simushi said residents should judge the current leadership by the progress already visible across the town.
“Every single year we will make a difference in the lives of the residents of Otjiwarongo,” he said.