Hileni Mwandingi
GOBABIS - The Gobabis Municipality this week launched its five-year strategic plan, which will guide it for the next half decade. The plan was launched on Monday, exactly a year since their current CEO took office and made it one of his first tasks to formulate and implement the said plan.
Officiating on behalf of the Minister, the Deputy Minister of Urban and Rural Development Derek Klazen applauded the municipality for being one of the municipalities with a defined strategic plan in the country, and for setting a great example primarily to other municipalities in the region and to the rest in the country.
Klazen noted the Gobabis Municipality has lately been making headlines for too many wrong reasons and thus he urged the leadership to unite and work hard to speed up the services delivery, especially availing the land and formalising informal settlements.
In his speech, the Peya Mushelenga, the Urban and Rural Development Minister said he was elated to hear of the Gobabis strategic plan, because local authorities all over the world have embraced and acknowledged the importance of crafting and articulating strategic plans as the Holy Grail and a guiding document detailing where and how they intend to grow their towns.
He said a strategic plan is important since it is a product of input by various stakeholders who collectively commit themselves towards the achievements of the specific vision. He noted they can be held accountable for the successes and failures since the plan provides a yardstick to measure progress being made on all tasks set in it.
Mushelenga said the strategic plan should become an actionable policy document.
“A strategic plan is therefore not a crafty document, but a living document which serves to provide direction just like in Sun Tsu’s “The Art of War” it should lay plans, wage war on poverty and all forms of corruption, exploit tactical dispositions, display infinite energy, eliminate weaknesses while encouraging and growing strengths. Itmust also be able to maneuver rapidly and vary one’s tactics, timing all your moves well and acknowledging the changing political terrains and forming allies with companies and organizations sharing your goals and vision.”
He hopes the strategic plan is in line with the NDP5, the HPP and Vision 2030 and hopeful that in crafting the said document, the considerations were made of the fact that Gobabis is the regional capital of the Omaheke Region and therefore the only urban centre in this region. “It is important because the plans and vision that you have for this town impacts the whole region because of the catalytic importance of Gobabis,” said the Urban and Rural Development Minister.
Mushelenga therefore urged the municipality to look into opportunities that will help their local authority grow in a proactive manner. He said his ministry stands ready to help in expediting statutory approvals when required in line with this strategic plan.
*Hileni Mwandingi is an Information Officer in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) stationed at Gobabis.