Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
Lahja Nashuuta
The dust refuses to settle between the City of Windhoek and its residents in the Katutura area.
The municipality continues to ignore calls to end its controversial contract with RedForce Debt Management.
It has also rejected a universal municipal debt write-off for pensioners.
The Khomas Ratepayers and Residents Association has written to Urban and Rural Development Minister Sankwasa James Sankwasa.
They are requesting urgent intervention in what they see as a growing crisis impacting low-income residents.
The association claims that the debt collection deal with RedForce was entered into without proper council approval, and that its contract, ending on 31 July 2025, should not be renewed.
They state that “the debt collector was appointed without a council resolution. This is not in the interest of ratepayers or the City of Windhoek”.
They say that this apparent breach of Article 18 of the Namibian Constitution suggests that certain individuals might benefit from a burdensome relationship with external debt collectors.
In addition, the association criticises the City’s lack of transparency, alleging a pattern of renewing the contract “without due process” and manipulating public messaging.
“Every time a press release is issued, the conditions change. We are tired of excuses,” they said.
They appealed for assistance for Windhoek residents, especially low-income households, who are being handed over to RedForce due to a flawed billing system.
The group argues that the City’s internal debt recovery unit should be strengthened to handle collections internally, rather than outsourcing.
“We, the ratepayers, are willing to pay what we owe, but not under such harsh conditions,” they added.
Meanwhile, the City of Windhoek dismissed pensioners’ calls for a full, unconditional debt write-off, warning that such a move could threaten its ability to provide basic services.
In response to a petition from the Khomas Ratepayers and Residents Association last week, the City expressed sympathy but emphasised that it cannot jeopardise its financial stability.
“The City regrets that it cannot approve an unconditional write-off of debts owed by pensioners,” the statement reads.
“Doing so would compromise council’s financial sustainability and its capacity to maintain essential services to all residents,” they said.
The petitioners urged the City to implement the July 2023 recommendation for relief measures that would help residents meet their municipal obligations.
They called for the debt write-off to extend to pensioners within the 43 Build Together housing groups.
During the petition handover, social justice activist Shaun Gariseb highlighted that pensioners are trapped in debt due to a lack of prepaid utilities.
“The absence of prepaid water and electricity meters is pushing pensioners into debt cycles they can’t escape,” he said.
He added that this is a structural failure that the City must address.
The City acknowledged that although it has offered targeted relief in the past, many pensioners fall back into arrears, creating an unsustainable cycle of debt.
“This pattern burdens the City’s resources and our ability to pay for bulk services from NamWater and NamPower,” they maintained.
To curb debt accumulation, pensioners are encouraged to switch to prepaid utilities for better financial control.
On land ownership issues within Build Together and savings group schemes, the municipality admitted that many residents face challenges formalising property rights due to group-based land ownership structures.
“While this model has enabled many low-income residents to access land, it has also caused problems related to ownership, service delivery and legal compliance,” the City said.
Residents are advised to visit the City’s Human Settlement office in Katutura for individual guidance based on their housing group’s status.
The City clarified that the Build Together programme is no longer the preferred housing solution.
It has been replaced by the Informal Settlement Upgrading Framework, which emphasises affordability and secure tenure over subsidised building.
“Financial support is no longer provided under the Build Together programme. Instead, residents receive assistance through upgraded land servicing and formal land rights, consistent with their income levels,” the municipality stated.
The City said that land transfer from group to individual ownership requires full repayment of all municipal and group debts as well as formal dissolution of the housing group.
Only once these conditions are satisfied, the City can transfer land to the group and subsequently from the group to individual members.
– lnashuuta@gmail.com
Photo: Heather Erdmann
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.