The People Can Wait No Longer

Every election, we are told the government is for the people. But for thousands of families in Windhoek, that promise feels distant.

Consider the numbers. The City of Windhoek has a housing backlog of 60 000 units. To close it, the city says it needs N$1 billion per year over the next four years. This year it received less than a third of that: N$290 million. City officials have already warned that the 2030 target may not be achieved at this pace.

Now consider the people behind the numbers. Windhoek has 150 informal settlements out of 419 countrywide. That’s 213 000 people living in over 67 000 households, without secure tenure or proper services. Nationally, urban migration is driving this pressure.

Windhoek’s population has grown from 325 858 in 2011 to an estimated 519 670 in 2025, and many arrive seeking opportunity but find unemployment instead.

Land is the other part of the crisis. The cost to service land alone is estimated at N$900 million. Demand for land in informal settlements now exceeds 1 800 hectares. Young people with jobs still wait years for a plot, while the backlog grows.

This is not about blame. It is about priorities.

Yes, there is progress. Council has approved new township developments for over 1 400 housing units. The government has committed to 50 000 houses by 2030. But progress must match the scale of the problem.

Leaders must ask themselves hard questions: Are we budgeting enough? Are we servicing land fast enough? Are we upgrading areas like Havana, Goreangab, and Otjomuise with the same urgency we give to other projects? Are we treating a family without shelter the same way we would treat our own family?

Namibians are patient, but not blind. We are not asking for handouts. We are asking to be planned for, budgeted for, and prioritised.

A government for the people means houses built, not just housing policies announced. It means plots serviced, not just promises made. It means informal settlements upgraded, not ignored until election season.

It is time we saw it.

– Stanley Mujoro

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