Money was spent and yet the services are not ready
Eight years after its foundation was laid, the Eenhana Town Council building stands as a quiet indictment of the gap between public ambition and public accountability — N$27 million spent, a structure decaying in place, and a community still waiting for the services it was promised. The parliamentary committee that arrived to inspect development progress in Ohangwena Region found not a building nearing completion, but one already beginning to fail. In this unfinished concrete shell, a larger truth about governance and the cost of stalled intentions is written plainly for those willing to read it.
- A N$41 million civic building started in 2018 has consumed N$27 million in public funds and yet stands incomplete, with the contractor absent and the structure visibly deteriorating.
- The final N$9 million needed to finish the project remains unallocated, leaving the council's CEO to warn that the building is already 'starting to fall apart' with no movement in sight.
- A parliamentary oversight committee arrived in Ohangwena Region and encountered not progress but a pattern — development projects across the region stalled by funding gaps and implementation failures.
- Committee chair Hon. Uahekua Herunga called the situation painful and unacceptable, and the eight-member delegation pledged to carry the matter forward as part of their broader mandate.
- What appears to be a single funding shortfall is revealing itself as a systemic failure — public money spent, promises unkept, and communities left waiting while infrastructure quietly crumbles.
Eight years after breaking ground, the Eenhana Town Council building remains unfinished — a structure that has absorbed N$27 million of a N$41 million budget while delivering nothing to the public it was meant to serve. The contractor has stopped coming. The walls are standing, but they are beginning to deteriorate. The final N$9 million needed to complete the work has not materialized, and without it, nothing moves.
The situation came into sharp focus when the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Poverty Eradication and Labour Relations, led by Hon. Uahekua Herunga, visited Ohangwena Region to assess development and service delivery. In Eenhana, they found a building frozen mid-construction. CEO Wodibo Haulofu laid out the numbers plainly: money spent, gap remaining, no path forward without additional funding — and consultant and contractor fees still outstanding on top of that.
Herunga did not conceal his frustration. 'It is painful to see that money was spent and yet the services are not ready,' he said. The committee, comprising eight members in total, made clear they intended to take the matter forward.
But Eenhana is not alone. The committee's wider review of Ohangwena revealed a familiar pattern across the region — projects initiated, funds partially spent, then work halted. Infrastructure left half-finished. Communities left waiting. The stalled council building has become a window into something larger: a systemic problem of funding constraints and implementation failures that the parliamentary committee is now tasked with confronting.
Eight years after breaking ground, the new Eenhana Town Council building sits incomplete and deteriorating, a concrete monument to a funding crisis that has left nearly three-quarters of its budget spent but no services delivered to the public. The project, which began in 2018 with an estimated cost of N$41 million, has consumed approximately N$27 million to date—yet remains stalled, waiting for the final N$9 million needed to finish the work. The contractor has stopped showing up. The structure itself is beginning to fail.
The problem surfaced during a recent visit by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Poverty Eradication and Labour Relations, led by Hon. Uahekua Herunga. The committee had come to Ohangwena Region to inspect development projects and assess how regional stakeholders were managing service delivery. What they found in Eenhana was a building frozen mid-construction, its walls standing but its purpose unfulfilled.
Wodibo Haulofu, the Eenhana Town Council's Chief Executive Officer, laid out the arithmetic plainly. The council has paid out N$27 million. The project requires N$41 million total. That leaves N$9 million outstanding—not counting the separate fees owed to consultants and the contractor themselves. Without that money, nothing moves. "There's no movement," Haulofu said. "When we go in, you will see it is already starting to fall apart." The building is decaying while it waits.
Herunga, heading the parliamentary delegation, did not hide his frustration. "It is painful to see that money was spent and yet the services are not ready," he said. The committee included eight members in total—Hon. Ambrosius Kumbwa, Hon. Natangue Ithete, Hon. Borniface Susiku, Hon. Lucia Mbuti, Hon. Rodrick Likando, Hon. Fridrick Shitana, Hon. Winnie Moongo, and Hon. Eneas Emvula—and they made clear they would take the matter forward. The implication was plain: this was not acceptable.
The Eenhana building is not an isolated case. The committee's broader assessment of the region revealed a pattern: development projects across Ohangwena are struggling with funding constraints and implementation bottlenecks. Money gets allocated, work begins, then stops. Infrastructure sits half-finished. The public waits. The pattern repeats. What started as a single stalled building project is actually a window into a systemic problem—one that the parliamentary committee is now tasked with addressing as part of its mandate to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods across the region.
Citações Notáveis
There's no movement. When we go in, you will see it is already starting to fall apart.— Wodibo Haulofu, Eenhana Town Council Chief Executive Officer
It is painful to see that money was spent and yet the services are not ready. As a committee, we will pick it up.— Hon. Uahekua Herunga, head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a building that's already received N$27 million still need N$9 million more? Couldn't the council have managed the budget better from the start?
The original estimate was N$41 million. They've spent N$27 million and still have work left. That's not necessarily mismanagement—it's what happens when funding doesn't arrive on schedule. The contractor stops working. The project stalls. Then the building itself starts to deteriorate, which could end up costing more to fix.
So the real problem is that the money dried up, not that the budget was wrong?
Exactly. The council had a plan. They had a contractor. But somewhere along the way, the funding stopped flowing. Eight years is a long time for a building to sit unfinished.
What happens to a structure when it's left incomplete like that? Does it just get worse?
Yes. Exposed concrete, unfinished interiors, weather exposure—all of it accelerates decay. The CEO said it's already starting to fall apart. The longer it sits, the more expensive it becomes to eventually finish.
And the public—they're the ones who lose out, right? They were supposed to have this facility by now.
That's what made the parliamentary committee so frustrated. N$27 million of public money is already gone. The building is there. But the services it was meant to provide—whatever they are—still aren't available. That's the real cost.