Staff Reporter
MOSES //Khumub, Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice President, has assured Hai//om residents of Duwib Resettlement Farm in the Otjozondjupa Region that their recently raised concerns will be turned into “operational directives”.
Speaking at a community engagement on Friday, //Khumub delivered greetings from President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and said the Government is committed to a “business unusual” approach of planning directly with communities.
“The Government is moving away from planning in distant Windhoek offices,” he said.
His visit followed a letter from Farm Duwib leadership outlining critical challenges, with the lack of a proper access road topping the list. Community members also raised ongoing socio-economic hardships affecting livelihoods on the resettlement farm.
Photos: Office of the Vice President.
“Please know that your letter did not fall on deaf ears. We have heard you and we have noted your priorities,” he told the community. He added that by approaching the Office of the Vice President, they “refused to suffer in silence” and showed the true spirit of community leadership.
“Your Government listened to your challenges and will always do. Your Government cares and will always do,” he said.
//Khumub said that development planners have been deployed to work at village and farm level alongside traditional authorities.
Their mandate, he explained, is to capture local aspirations and feed them directly into national planning and the national budget process.
“Our indigenous communities must actively own this process. You must be the watchdogs of your own development to make sure that available Government funds and programmes are not misplaced or wasted,” he urged.
For Farm Duwib, //Khumub said Government will prioritise the core foundations of human dignity: decent housing, quality education and reliable water.
He stressed that water should be available not only for drinking but also for community gardening projects to build local economic resilience and food security.
The Deputy Minister also called on commercial farmers in the area to partner with the Hai//om community through Public-Private Partnerships, sharing expertise in farming, logistics and equipment to support local initiatives and the maintenance of shared infrastructure.
On education, //Khumub encouraged indigenous minority families to make it “an absolute family priority”, calling it the greatest equaliser and the sharpest tool to break the structural chains of generational poverty.
Farm Duwib is home to Hai//om community members resettled in the Otjozondjupa Region.
