Namibia considers housing state of emergency amid calls for concrete action
via The Namibian4 min read
Namibia's prime minister, Elijah Ngurare, announced that the government is considering declaring housing and sanitation a state of emergency. This move has been welcomed by the Council of Churches in Namibia CCN and analysts, who acknowledge the seriousness of the housing crisis affecting thousands, particularly those in informal settlements. However, they caution that a declaration alone will not solve the backlog of over 300,000 homes. The CCN secretary general, James Fredericks, emphasized that the declaration must be supported by concrete measures, adequate resources, and clear implementation timelines. The churches also welcomed the increase in the housing budget from N$50 million to N$700 million and called for faster implementation of the free residential plots program and increased investment in land servicing. Political analysts like Ndumba Kamwanyah and Sackaria Johannes, along with Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani, expressed concerns that without changes in policy, sufficient funding, and addressing issues like delays in land delivery and bureaucracy, the declaration might not lead to meaningful change. Data indicates a significant number of Namibians live in shacks, with figures showing approximately 995,000 people in urban shacks in 2018 and 228,000 shacks in 308 informal settlements recently. The decision to declare housing a national emergency follows a motion tabled by the Independent Patriots for Change IPC in parliament.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by The Namibian.
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