Electricity is no longer a luxury but a necessity, said Windhoek mayor Fransina Kahungu. She said this during a ceremony marking the electrification of 1 200 homes in Otjomuise extension 6 and 7 and the Havana informal settlement extension 1 and 3. 

Kahungu said council decided to answer to the call of its residents by investing N$14 million which they received from Ministry of Urban and Rural Development in Khomasdal and Moses Garoeb constituencies. The project started last week Friday and is expected to be completed by August 2020. Kahungu said they are expected to commission the two projects by the end of September 2020.

 “Many people in this constituency will soon say goodbye to illegal electricity connections. Residents will soon be able to save some money, as they will no longer be forced to pay exorbitant money to those who have illegally given them electricity,” said the mayor. She said council targets to electrify a minimum of 1 000 households in the informal areas around Windhoek every year under the five-year electrification plan to contribute to the social progression and infrastructural development pillars of the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP). 

Kahungu added two projects of constructing 17 high-mast lights are underway in various constituencies: Moses Garoeb, Tobias Hainyeko, Samora Machel and Windhoek Rural. She said council envisages completing the construction of these high-mast lights by August 2020 at a cost of N$6 million. “It is our conviction these lights will help to improve public safety in the informal areas still to be serviced,” added Kahungu. 

Minister of urban and rural development Peya Mushelenga said the project testifies their resolve to provide much-needed infrastructure to residents, particularly in the township where most of the low-income compatriots reside. “This is a positive response to the government’s drive to narrow imbalances in the development programmes rolled out to members of our society,” said Mushelenga.
-sikela@nepc.com.na