2015-10-08Staff Report 2 Windhoek - The councillor of Tobias Hainyeko Constituency, Zulu Shitongeni, whose hopes of being re-elected as councillor in next month’s regional and local elections were dashed after being knocked out in the preliminary stages of the Swapo Party elections last week, says he will support the new councillor fully. Christopher Rikuwa was elected to stand as Swapo candidate for the constituency. “I will support him fully so that he can successfully implement the projects of Tobias Hainyeko for the benefit of the people of the constituency,” Shitongeni told New Era this week. Shitongeni, who spoke from the north via telephone, maintained that he is not a bitter man after failing to secure passage to the November 27 election contest. “I don’t see that as a problem because the one who will take office is a comrade. He will take over from where I left off,” said Shitongeni, when asked how he felt after being knocked out. Shitongeni, who is a professional artisan, said he would focus on his business ventures once he left office. “The market is in need of me, especially the technical side,” the councillor added. Touching on his contributions to the development of the constituency, Shitongeni said that when he took office in December 2009 there was no programme document of plans for the constituency. Despite the numerous challenges, Shitongeni stated that he has contributed to the development of the constituency by, among others, spearheading developmental projects such as sanitation, land demarcations, construction of tarred roads as well as the construction of 208 communal toilets and 180 water points. Asked what the major challenges in the constituency are, Shitongeni said: “I don’t see any big challenges apart from land and electricity issues.” Tobias Hainyeko is home to 45 800 people, according to the 2011 population and housing census. by Alvine Kapitako 2015-10-08Staff Report 2
