To know the strength of a woman, put her in hot water, says Namibian female Mayor

I was highly elated to be elected Mayor of Windhoek for the year 2010/2011. In three day’s time, on Friday, December 2, 2011, we’ll have another elections for the positions of mayor, deputy mayor and five executive members. We’re all together 15 councillors for the city of Windhoek. Eleven of us are from the ruling […]

I was highly elated to be elected Mayor of Windhoek for the year 2010/2011. In three day’s time, on Friday, December 2, 2011, we’ll have another elections for the positions of mayor, deputy mayor and five executive members. We’re all together 15 councillors for the city of Windhoek. Eleven of us are from the ruling party, the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), and four of them are from the opposition parties?

What were the major challenges you faced this one year?

This year, I had a major challenge in the ‘good’ rainy season. Because of the heavy rains, we had a lot of potholes in our streets, and we spent a lot of money from our pockets to fix the potholes.  I’m sure, you will see for yourself, that we don’t have potholes anymore. We also had a situation when we had a company which managed the prepaid metres money. We had to make a quick decision to stop the company from operation because of some deals we didn’t like. We had to look for any company to operate the prepaid metres. It was a major challenge. We also had a problem with miscreants. We have to invite the city police to tackle and bring them under control.

The company which won the contract for the sale of prepaid metre should be a member of your political party. Why did you stop their operation?

I don’t know whether the owners belong to our political party or not, I don’t have an idea where they belong.

When you took that decision to stop their contract, did the president call you to ask you why?

The president calls all the stakeholders within the parliament on a regular basis, not based on specific issues. For example, when I was elected, my first task was to go and introduce myself to the president. I took my councillors with me.  We introduced ourselves to the president to enable him know who we were and that’s all. If we had anything on the table we wanted to share with the president, we do so through our line minister. He’s got an open door policy with all the ministers, regional councilors, governors, and on a regular basis we have discussions with our line ministers.

How do you raise funds for your projects? You have monthly subvention from government, or you source your own funds?

Normally we raise our own way of raising taxes from residents and other taxes from electricity. We also get some money from the central government.  We got N$300 million for a period of three years. We use that money to service land. We use it to provide infrastructure in new areas being developed. We use the money to provide the water points, electricity connection and for sanitation.

How do you feel, being a woman and mayor of a city like Windhoek?

I don’t feel anything concerning gender. It doesn’t come to my mind in any way. But I’m concentrating on what I can do on a daily basis to the best of my ability. We’re on a part time basis, because I’m still a teacher. I am a teacher in the morning at the school I am working. After school hours I go to the mayor’s office to perform my duties as a mayor.

You’re not a full-time mayor. Is it not overwhelming?

If you have a good family, like my husband who is a good supportive man, and I have a child who is 13 years old, I bring them on board. They must understand my programme, and key into my programme. Based on that, things are made easy for me.

When you wanted to contest for this position of mayor, did men frown at it?

Sometimes, people ask me this same question, but I can just say I am thanking the voters who voted for us the SWAPO candidates, and also the colleagues who voted for me as mayor. We were all voted in as councilors, and from them we voted in the mayor. It’s been a fruitful year for me; it’s also a learning process, and I’m available to continue, if they want me to.

As mayor of this big Namibian city, do you feel like the boss?

No, I don’t feel that I’m the boss at home. I take it as a team work, and whatever we decide as a council that was what we do.

Do you feel like being the boss at home?

No. I separate how I operate. My family matter is about my family, and the council issues are on their own.

Would you want your son, too, to become a mayor?

He’s only 13 years old, and he would like to be a lawyer. I hope he will become a lawyer one day.

In this election, if you don’t get back to your seat as mayor, what would you do?

I’m still a councilor for four years. If I’m not elected mayor, I will still be a councilor. We’re elected on a five-year term, and every year we change the portfolios.

How rich are you, being mayor? Are you a multi-millionnaire?

I’m a grassroots person. We don’t boast about what we have, money and material things. We focus on the services we deliver to the people.

You don’t want to make yourself rich?

No. I don’t want to enrich myself. I have a clear conscience. I’m only focusing on how to provide services to our people.

Is your salary as a teacher enough to take care of your needs?

My salary is what I use to take care of my needs. I’m a poor woman.

A mayor poor?

Yes, a mayor can be poor. You don’t have to be rich because you’re a mayor.

Are there other poor mayors that you know?

I don’t want to talk about other poor or rich mayors, but you don’t need to be rich to be a mayor. All you need is how to work with people and how to empower the community, that’s the most important thing. It’s not about myself. No.

What would you want to tell Nigerian women?

I know Nigeria is a big country and the men are powerful. But I would tell them to stand up for their rights and if they can assist in being councilors they should do. They should take up the challenge, and not be afraid of male power. The woman is more powerful. There’s a saying that a woman is like this: if you take a tea bag and put it in hot water, you will know the strength of the tea. That’s how a woman is. If you put woman in hot water, you will see how strong she can be (laughs).