2016-11-29Staff Report 2 Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop Municipal Council yesterday re-elected Gaudentia Kröhne to serve as the town’s mayor for another one-year term. Kröhne, who was elected mayor after Swapo scooped five local council seats during the 2015 regional council and local authority elections, was duly elected as the southern capital’s first resident at a short ceremony held at Keetmanshoop on Monday Hilia Titus was also re-elected as the town’s deputy mayor, while Gabriel Freyer remains chairperson of the management committee. In her brief acceptance speech, the mayor was quick to map out the way forward for the council over the next 12 months, indicating that the main focus for municipal leaders would be the provision of affordable housing and basic services to the residents of the town. She feels Keetmanshoop has to potential to grow into an affluent town, with no informal settlements and where no one lives in poverty and said it was imperative that council works hard to achieve this goal. “The main objective of this council for this term is to provide affordable housing and basic services to all the residents of Keetmanshoop,” she said, adding that the municipality under the council’s leadership also has a responsibility to develop and improve infrastructure at the town, so as to attract new businesses and investors. Kröhne further called on her fellow councillors to put the needs of the residents before their own, saying “In accepting this responsibility the wellbeing of the local communities should be the foremost on our collective agenda”. She furthermore urged municipal staff to keep working hard towards quality service provision to the local residents, saying the council will continue to rely on the workers’ guidance in its quest to deliver on the pledges made to the residents. 2016-11-29Staff Report 2
