Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda has implored his fellow councillors to give more than they take in order to demonstrate exemplary and collective leadership for the benefit of the city’s residents.
While addressing an ordinary council meeting last week, Amupanda told councillors to resolutely communicate the city’s determination in words and action.
“It is a clarion call for our collective leadership to be transformative and meets the needs of our residents at their point of need. If we commit to this path, we must equally be ready to engage our society on the path we have chosen,” he said.
Amupanda reminded the leadership that they must at all times endeavour to add in one way or the other to the efforts taken away from the residents.
“As Lucky Dube told us, blessed is the hand that giveth than the one that taketh. This requires of us all to learn, unlearn and relearn because an exercise of giving, rather than taking, is not easy nor is it one that this city is used to,” he said.
“For every economic opportunity we take, we must provide ten more opportunities. From a drug dealer, we must cultivate an honest entrepreneur. From thugs, we must subsequently see a community leader. From the greedy, we must one day, see a generous resident. From the conservatism, we must, in a final analysis, produce a transformer of Windhoek.”
He also called on councillors to address issues around corruption and crime to help change the image of the city.
“From the thugs and criminals, we must take away their freedom to terrorise and harass. From the lazy, we must take away their opportunity to idle and posture. From the greedy, we must take away the very machinery that allows them to accumulate, at the expense of the poor masses of our people. From the conservatism defenders of the oppressive status quo, we must take away their very framework and comfort from which they seek to dominate our society, based on old formulas, which perpetuate the suffering of our people. Indeed, from the authors of the suffering masses of our people, we must take away the very pens and inks used to author the pain and misery of our people,” he stated.