The City of Windhoek renewed their cooperation partnership with the Outapi Town Council ensuring continued support to its little sister in the north.
This is the third time the duo have signed a memorandum of partnership and cooperation, the first taking place in 1998 and renewed again in 2007.
At the signing event, Windhoek Mayor Muesee Kazapua said that ultimately, the cooperation between the two local authorities should improve the quality of life of people, which can be done “by meeting together, sharing experiences and learning from each other”.
His Outapi counterpart Selma Nelao Asino said the “reliable partnership” with the City of Windhoek has been very beneficial to the town and its people over the years.
Asino noted that with the assistance of advisors, the partnership has led to “well-functioning open markets, SME policy guidelines, revenue collection and credit control policies” amongst other successful implementations.
She pointed out that clean audit opinion received recently on the town’s financial statements from the Auditor General was in no small part due to the relationship, “which rarely happens to a local authority at our level”.
Other successes she attributed to the partnership include the thriving open market where 400 vendors have set up their small businesses.
The assistance of two City of Windhoek officials namely; Ndangi Katoma and Manfred Gaeb were mentioned in direct relations to the successful launch of the Olufuko festival, which turns five this year.
“As of now, the festival is one of the most visited and favourite festivals in the country,” she said.
Windhoek mayor Muesee Kazapua said, the partnership is partly motivated by the fact that Windhoek, as the capital city and the hub of economic activities, carries a responsibility towards others.
“The City of Windhoek … has a great national obligation to play, in terms of assisting its local sister authorities, particularly the upcoming ones through capacity building initiatives and experience sharing.”
Kazapua emphasised that partnerships between government institutions should ultimately “impact positively on the lives of the people we represent. In this way, we will not only ensure enhanced decentralisation, sharing of resources and understanding, but also nation building.”
JANA-MARI SMITH