Martin Endjala and Ester Mbathera
For many citizens, particularly those in rural areas, the lack of reliable transport is not just an inconvenience – it’s a daily struggle that hinders access to essential services, education, and economic opportunities.
Theophilus Kadhimo, an inspector of education in Mukwe Constituency, Kavango East Region, highlighted the dire consequences of the lack of a proper public transport system and infrastructure.
Kadhimo said that poor road conditions and the absence of reliable transport hinder access to schools and other essential services.
“The sandy roads here are impassable without a 4×4 vehicle, which makes schools in the region virtually inaccessible. From January to September this year, I couldn’t visit schools because we lacked a government-provided vehicle,” Kadhimo explained.
He added that teachers in remote schools face exorbitant transport costs, often pooling funds for trips to access education supplies or services.
“A round trip to schools that are 25 km away from the tar road can cost up to N$1 500, a burden teachers must bear from their own pockets,” he said.
The challenges have affected the delivery of school feeding programs, monitoring of educational standards, and overall service delivery.
“This has a negative impact on education quality and leaves rural communities further marginalised,” Kadhimo said.
Various political parties have made public transport a priority, particularly in remote areas.
According to the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa, the public transport system, like many other public institutions, is currently facing a crisis and is not in a position where it is contributing to the betterment of Namibians.
“The value of improving this could help in addressing several factors and opening opportunities. For example, sufficient public transport between large settlements, towns, or cities,” he noted.
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president, Panduleni Itula, proposed a comprehensive policy to address public transport deficiencies.
“As part of a comprehensive infrastructure development, the IPC has developed a policy framework that would make public transport availability to all in the urban and rural communities a contributory factor in accessing public services such as hospitals and schools to ensure that the public benefits,” he explained.
According to him, such a program will, however, benefit from an increased revenue collection funded by its own policy of corporate tax reforms and tax cuts to fund such a public program.
He added that a combination of public and private entities, along with its development partners, will fund extensive infrastructure development.
Itula suggested regulating public transport to ensure the safety of citizens and the sector at large.
“One has to be careful, as any such regularity service may cause massive unemployment for thousands of taxi drivers and consequent poverty for their dependents. One may envisage resistance from this sector of our economy legitimately,” he advised.
Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) president Mike Kavekotora stressed that public transport is vital for economic development.
He outlined his party’s plans to rehabilitate Namibia’s railway network, reducing road maintenance costs by shifting heavy freight to rail.
“RDP aims to rehabilitate and extend the Namibia railway network both within the country as well as to SADC landlocked countries. The party will aim at putting more load onto rail, reducing the heavy load on the road networks, thereby increasing the useful life of the road network. The harbours of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz are completely underutilised and failed to render Namibia to become a preferred economic hub,” he said.
For this reason, the party noted that the rehabilitation of the railway network will become a priority and a law will be introduced to prevent heavy-duty trucks from hauling between towns and cities where railway networks are available.
United People’s Movement (UPM) president, Jan van Wyk, called for amendments to legislation regulating the public transport sector. He pointed out that many operators evade taxes, reducing the sector’s contribution to the economy.
“We have realised that the industry has been flooded with illegal operators, which makes it difficult to regulate the industry, especially between local authority boundaries. Therefore, the UPM’s position on amending laws,” he pointed out.
Van Wyk urged the national government to support local authorities by funding infrastructure projects such as transport terminals and road maintenance.
“I personally cannot get proper information on the contribution of the industry to the state coffers (tax). It seems that the bulk of public transport operators are not paying tax,” he stated.
According to transport and logistics expert Bruce Liswani, one of the major challenges the policymakers face is the lack of coordination between local authorities and the national government.
This issue, he said, often arises due to the presence of opposition political parties within local and regional authorities alongside the main party.
“I believe this diversity shouldn’t be a problem. Instead, there should be strong collaboration to enhance the productivity and efficiency of public transport, as everyone is working toward a common goal,” he said.
Liswani suggested that there is still room for growth, particularly in expanding infrastructure and implementing supportive policies to align with Namibia’s strategic vision for its transport sector.