Lylie Happiness
OSHAKATI, July 13 – Local authorities must seek more strategic collaborations and development partnerships, to mitigate the impact of ever-growing demands for service delivery.
This was said by the Deputy Mayor of Windhoek, Joseph Uapingene, at a joint signing for the renewal of expired cooperation agreements between the city of Windhoek and Oshakati, Ongwediva, and Ondangwa that took place at Oshakati town council hall today. The agreements have been renewed for five years.
“In many instances, inter-governmental collaboration allows localities to achieve quicker and more effective results as opposed to working independently,” he said.
Uapingene proposed that the chief executive officers of the towns consider allocating an official from their respective local authorities to co-ordinate inter-governmental activities and oversee the implementation of the action plans between the local authorities.
He said Windhoek, as the capital city and the biggest municipality in Namibia, has a great national obligation to play, in terms of assisting sister local authorities, through capacity-building initiatives and knowledge exchange.
“We appreciate the progress made thus far, and we remain committed to the co-operation agreements that we will sign today. Your challenges are our challenges and where we can support each other, I would gladly join hands to address the key areas of capacity-building, economic development, and technical skills exchange amongst other things.
“Let us ensure that this co-operation remains a working partnership, with action plans and practical implementation of projects that translate into poverty eradication and the social well-being of our communities,” said Uapingene.
