2017-10-11Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Keetmanshoop-The much-anticipated official opening of Oranjemund will no longer take place next week Saturday, as initially planned. The new date for the official opening is October 21. The event was postponed because President Hage Geingob will be attending the funeral of the late Governor of the Kunene Region, Angelika Muharukua. Oranjemund Town Council Chief Executive Officer, Shali Akwaanyenga, said the funeral and the opening of the town were set to happen on the same day, hence the council postponed the event. “The Oranjemund Town Council wishes to inform all residents, stakeholders and invited guests that the event has been postponed due to the hero’s funeral of the late Muharukua, which is expected to take place on the same date,” he said in a press statement. Muharukua, who died at her residence in Windhoek on October 1 from a suspected heart attack, has been conferred national hero status. Meanwhile, the organisers of Oranjemund Community Festival say the event would take place on October 14 as planned, as would other events billed in the week preceding the festival. This is because contracts with service providers have already been signed and artists have been paid. The town would have suffered severe financial losses if the festival’s events were postponed at such a late stage. Oranjemund has been a closed off town, even after Namibia gained its independence in 1990, and members of the public were required to apply for a special permit to enter the town. The opening of the town is set to bring an end to all these restrictions, as people will be allowed to move in and out of the town freely. “The council wishes to apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of the postponement of this historical day,” said Akwaanyenga. 2017-10-11Staff Report 2
