Council Duties & Resident Rights: A Working Council = A Working Municipality
- JWBRA Team
- Sep 7
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 9
Every town, whether thriving or struggling, rests on the same foundation: its council. A community’s streets, services, and opportunities are shaped not by chance, but by the decisions taken in council chambers. When the council works well, residents feel the benefits. When it fails, the cracks show — sometimes literally.
This isn’t just opinion. Namibia’s Local Authorities Act of 1992 makes it clear: the council is the engine of the municipality. And like any engine, the results depend on whether it is maintained, properly managed, and guided in the right direction.
What Rights do Residents Have?
Namibia’s Local Authorities Act of 1992 spells this out clearly. Every resident has the right to:
Basic services: water, sanitation, refuse removal, electricity.
Health & safety: fire brigade, ambulance, traffic services, stormwater control.
Housing & community life: housing schemes, libraries, nurseries, markets, recreational spaces.
Participation & transparency: attend public meetings, inspect council minutes, know about the town budget, raise issues for discussion.
Growth & wellbeing: bursaries, loans, employment opportunities, and policies that promote social development.
These are not favours from politicians. They are legal entitlements.
The Council’s Duties
The council is the boardroom of Walvis Bay. Its job is to:
Approve budgets and spending.
Hire, discipline, or remove the CEO and staff if they fail to deliver.
Pass by-laws and enforce them.
Oversee service delivery — from water to waste to housing.
Report back openly to residents.
A united, focused council can clean up mismanagement quickly. A divided or distracted one leaves services to collapse.
What Does the Mayor Do?
The mayor is not a ceremonial figure. By law, the mayor must:
Initiate and monitor development policies.
Promote employment creation.
Drive the social wellbeing of residents.
Ensure that council decisions are carried out.
But here’s the catch: a mayor without a supportive council majority is powerless. Plans die on the table without the votes to back them.
What Happens When Council Fails?
The Act and general Namibian laws give residents some recourse. Options range from simple and straight forward to complicated - but none of them are quick fixes.
Mobilise for Public Meetings
Councils are required to hold at least three public meetings per year where residents can raise matters. Council is required to "record and consider" these matters, which makes them part of the public record.
Unfortunately it's very easy for the municipality to brush issues aside by claiming they're being dealt with.
Get it Raised with Council
Any Councillor can request a matter to be discussed at a Council meeting. As a resident, you can contact your Councillor and ask them to raise your issue formally.
Minutes of Council meetings are usually public records, so failures can be documented. Residents can then go over the minutes to exercise oversight. If the issue wasn't properly addressed, they can share this information with their friends, families, co-workers and the public at large. The more people know about it, the less chance the municipality has of ignoring it.
Escalate to the Minister of Urban and Rural Development
The Minister of Urban and Rural Development can suspend or remove the Council (not municipal staff) if it fails to exercise the Council's powers or duties.
This allows the Minister or an administrator to handle the town's affairs until they're either sure that the Council can do it properly, or a by-election was held to vote for a new Council.
This route is slow and uncertain, as Council gets a chance to sort its act out first. Additionally, politics may play a role in appointing administrators - this year, the Minister, James Sankwasa, appointed corruption-convicted Marina Kandumbu as administrator of Katima Mulilo.
Legal Remedies
Residents can theoretically sue the Council and/or CEO to either seek a court order compelling them to perform its duties or claim damages if their failures cause harm.
Unfortunately, legal action is not only costly and can drag on for years, the Council would have to use the money residents paid for the services to defend the case.
Public Pressure
If failures are documented, raised in meetings and included in public records like Council minutes, they can form a pretty damning picture. It's then relatively easy to create public awareness and put collective pressure on the Council to do their job.
Each of these is a safety valve, but none guarantees results. By the time the Minister or the courts act, residents have already suffered years of neglect.
The Real Power Lies in the Council
Under the Act, the council controls the municipality. It hires and fires. It sets priorities. It decides how money is spent. It makes the rules.
If councillors are competent, disciplined, and forward-thinking, Walvis Bay works — even if resources are limited. If councillors are divided, corrupt, or indifferent, no amount of ministerial oversight or court orders can make the municipality run smoothly.
So Where Does That Leave Us?
Every election, residents face the same choice: Do we hand the steering wheel back to the same old mix of parties, knowing how that story ends? Or do we build a council with the focus, skills, and unity to use the powers the law already gives them?
The Local Authorities Act doesn’t say who must govern. It only says how councils must govern. The law already puts the tools in their hands. The only question is: who can actually be trusted to use them?
That is where the JWBRA comes in. Not because we shout the loudest, but because our entire mission is about residents, accountability, and service delivery.
A strong, majority JWBRA council means:
Decisions driven by residents, not party politics.
Councillors who understand their legal powers and are willing to use them.
A municipality that finally works for the people of Walvis Bay.
A quicker way for residents to hold leaders accountable.
The Bottom Line
The Local Authorities Act is clear: a working council equals a working municipality.
If Walvis Bay wants reliable water, safer streets, proper housing plans, and a future built on accountability, then we need councillors who are united, skilled, and determined to do the job.
And when you look at the options honestly, there's really only one conclusion:
Walvis Bay needs a majority JWBRA council.
Comments