ONYAANYA - Councillor of Onyaanya Constituency in Oshikoto Region Petrus Kambala, has surrendered part of his entertainment allowance to aid eight starving households in the area.
Kambala said he was touched by the dire state of learners at Oshilunga school in his constituency, who he said attend school on empty stomachs on a regular basis.
The school-feeding programme serves as their only source of food, Kambala observed.
“I investigated the matter when I heard of it and I found out that many of the learners at the school are coming from houses that have no food, as a result they are only depended on the school feeding programme,” he said.
“We are in trying times and the situation is hard hitting. That’s why I have decided to surrender my entertainment allowance in order to buy and donate food to the eight houses that have been identified as most needy. Although many households are in need of food,” stressed Kambala.
He added that suppliers have already started submitting their bids to the council for consideration and if approved, the food will be bought and distributed soonest.
“Hunger for animals and humans is rife, I therefore appeal to the government to speed up the implementation of the drought relief programme. And it should not only carter for the marginalised communities because everyone at the moment is in need. The longer this takes, we will hear of cases of people dying as a result of starvation,” stated Kambala.
Zooming in on the severity of the drought, he said some farmers are driving their livestock to as far as Angola for better grazing. This, he said, creates a higher risk of the Foot and Mouth Disease once the animals return when the situation at home improves.
Another issue of concern the councillor raised was high rate of youth unemployment, which he estimated to be standing at 70 percent.
“Our constituency is financially constrained, so we do not have enough funds to implement income generating projects where we can provide short to long term employment for our youth. Projects such as de-bushing or cash for work.
Our hands are really tied and we have no choice but to look on and hope the situation changes,” hinted a concerned Kambala.