Staff Reporter
THE Namibian Prime Minister, Dr. Elijah Ngurare, has said that President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has declared the housing and sanitation crisis in the country a national emergency.
Giving the announcement in Parliament, Ngurare said that in the past few weeks, Her Excellency has directed that sanitation and housing be considered for declaration as an emergency.
“We sought legal advice from the Attorney-General. He advised that the Disaster Risk Management Act 10 of 2012 can be invoked to declare housing and sanitation an emergency,” Ngurare said.
He added that a meeting was convened a few weeks ago. “On the sanitation aspect, the resources available will be sufficient to address that aspect. These two, housing and sanitation, go together like Siamese twins. The National Disaster Risk Management Committee is seized with this matter. We will come back and appraise Cabinet and then Parliament,” Ngurare said.
The Prime Minister said that most Offices, Ministries and Agencies (OMAs) in government have indicated that they would need N$34 million for sanitation; however, he added that this amount may not be enough but would be a jump-start.
“We have a strategy as government, a sanitation strategy which is being updated. The intention is to ensure that every human being has access to sanitation; sanitation is dignity,” Ngurare said.
Ngurare said that improving sanitation infrastructure in the country is also expected to increase job opportunities.
In March 2026, at a media day event, the City of Windhoek painted a stark picture in its fight to eradicate informal settlements in the capital, stating that while it annually requires about N$1 billion to formalise informal settlements in the capital alone, it is severely underfunded, with only about N$53 million provided for informal settlement upgrades this financial year.
The capital has about 500,000 inhabitants and, of these, more than 200,000 live in informal settlements, which he said are not documented.
The second-largest town after Windhoek with informal settlements is Rundu, which has 67,411 inhabitants in impoverished housing, followed by Walvis Bay with 31,822, and Swakopmund with 29,961.
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Photo: File
