Fight against the City of Windhoek continues
Katutura residents continue to stand up for their rights
The City's chief executive says the issues involved are complicated and will require time to investigate.
The discord between Windhoek's Katutura residents and the capital's municipality continues.After last week's peaceful march, the chief executive of the City of Windhoek (CoW), Moses Matyayi, on Friday officially wrote to the Katutura residents' committee and activist Shaun Gariseb to acknowledge the residents' demands.
Katutura residents are demanding that their cut prepaid power supply be restored; that a comprehensive audit of the municipal account system is carried out; and that title deeds are provided to 7th and 8th Avenue residents.
Matyayi says the issues involved are complicated and will require time to investigate.
He says it is receiving his full attention, but asks that residents should not take matters into their own hands in the meantime, "because such behaviour can have serious consequences for yourself and the community in general," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Gariseb continued with the residents' plan to file a case of theft, fraud and corruption against the municipality at the Windhoek police station. The case number is CR 417/07/2024.
Gariseb encourages all Windhoekers who were also "victims of the municipality's accounting practices" to submit their affidavits to the Namibian police (Nampol) and have them attached to the existing case number.
Gariseb also wrote to the Electricity Regulatory Board (ECB) asking for the power regulator to intervene to prohibit the CoW from cutting off residents' power supply over debt.
Last month, the ECB publicly rejected the practice of cutting prepaid power supplies. It's against the electricity law, according to the governing board.
However, Gariseb writes to the ECB that the CoW "blamelessly disregards your order", and calls on the governing board to enforce its decision on the municipality.
Meanwhile, the residents of Katutura prepared to approach the courts today for an urgent interdict to stop the capital in its tracks.
Gariseb says after more than 250 applications were submitted to the government's legal aid, the law firm Henry Shimutwikeni was awarded to them.
Henry Shimutwikeni's office confirmed that they do represent the Katutura residents, but did not want to elaborate on the issue. – [email protected]