Oshana governor Elia Irimari said Namibia has made remarkable achievements since independence in 1990, which is evident in the Oshana region today.
After 32 years of independence, the Oshana region is going to celebrate in the spirit of one Namibia, one nation, he said.
“This year, our national independence will be commemorated in Erongo region. As always, our people will tune in on television and media platforms to witness this important national celebration.”
Thereafter, the region will have an opportunity to celebrate this important day in each constituency.
Irimari explained that the first milestone is good governance at every level of governance (regional, constituency, local authorities and traditional authority levels).
“Good governance was made possible by our government efforts in; upholding the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability, building institutional capacity, improving service delivery, promoting democracy, fighting corruption and addressing gender and income inequalities,” he stated.
He indicated that the government has invested 20 to 25% of its budget in education since independence in 1990.
Irimari further said as result, government has made remarkable improvement in terms of developing a national and regional education system, thereby improving access to education and reforming teachers’ education.
“The government has introduced free primary education nationwide. The government and the private sector have also invested in high education and vocational training institutions in the region,” he added.
The governor said to date, Oshana has five university campuses (Unam-HP, Unam Oshakati, Unam Engineering campus, IUM and NUST), and two vocational training centres (VTCs).
“The government continued to invest in the health of our people, such that 76% of our people have access to primary healthcare. The development of clinics, health centres and hospitals has improved access to primary healthcare in the region,” he noted.
Irimari further said the region has three big referral hospitals in each town; Oshakati state hospital, Ongwediva Medipark and Ondangwa hospital.
He said the Oshana region possesses some of the greatest infrastructure in the country, given the fast growing towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, these towns have well developed road networks, electrical networks, and developed townships. “There is also significant improvement in information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, energy, and water infrastructure, which are enabling blocks for industrialisation. For instance, 100% of our education and public sector institutions have water and electricity connections,” said Irimari.
He calls the business sector in the region the backbone of Oshana’s economy. The number of businesses in the region have increased steadily since independence.
He added that the region possesses some of the biggest shopping malls in northern Namibia such as Game Complex, Oshana Mall, Gwashamba Mall and other growing industries.
“The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector has also grown significantly since 1990, and are participating in the development of our national development,” he said. Irimari also mentioned some challenges that faced the Oshana region in the past 32 years, which are high unemployment, especially among the youth, housing shortage, limited access to business finance, slow pace of industrialisation and high income inequality, and hence poverty.
- vkaapanda@nepc.com.na