The Okalongo constituency councillor, Laurentius Iipinge, has welcomed the Cabinet decision to upgrade Okalongo settlement to a village council.

At the moment, basic services and amenities are lacking at the settlement, which in return holds back potential investors. 

The expansion of the settlement means more extensions of basic services, which in return can boost the local economy.

This week, Cabinet supported the proclamation of Okalongo settlement area as a local authority, in terms of Section 3 of the Local Authorities Act, 1992 (Act 23 of 1992) as amended, to be known as Onandjaba Village Council. 

“We have been fighting for this proclamation for a long time. We appreciate the decision taken by Cabinet to proclaim Okalongo as a village council. This development is welcome because we use to get our basic services from towns far from us such as Outapi. Once proclaimed, we will get these services within. That is really the feeling of the inhabitants here,” he noted. 

Okalongo was declared a settlement more than 20 years ago. Urban and Rural Development minister Erastus Uutoni said the election for the newly proclaimed local authority council will be conducted during the regional councils and local authority elections scheduled for 2025.

However, the ministry’s executive director Nghidinua Daniel could not shed more light on the proclamation process, saying the ministry is waiting for a decision from the authorities on the way forward. 

“We will only be in a position to say anything or more upon receipt of the decision,” he said.

The settlement had until the end of last year to demonstrate its financial ability to sustain or face being downgraded.

 The application to upgrade the settlement to a village council as it has been initially planned was previously shun by the ministry.

The ministry at the time cited reasons of the settlement’s inability to sustain itself. 

Other interventions undertaken by the regional council were to solve the land disputes, which have blocked development and subsequently delayed the settlement from being upgraded.