The City of Windhoek says it will continue blocking prepaid electricity meters for residents with outstanding municipal accounts for water or rates and taxes.
This comes after the Electricity Control Board (ECB) in June issued a directive, prohibiting local authorities from disconnecting prepaid electricity meters for unpaid non-electricity charges.
The notice directs local authorities to cease blocking prepaid electricity meters as a means of recovering arrears on non-electricity-related charges and to explore alternative debt recovery methods that comply with relevant legislation.
City of Windhoek Mayor Queen Omagano Kamati says the ECB’s directive contradicts the constitutional and statutory mandate of the Windhoek Municipal Council.
“This directive, widely circulated in the public domain, has not been formally communicated to the Windhoek Municipal Council. It is perplexing that a decision with such far-reaching consequences could be made without affording the Council an opportunity to be heard, as stipulated in Article 18 of the Namibian Constitution,” she said.
She noted that the City is mandated by the Local Authority Act, Act 23 of 1992, as amended, to provide municipal services to its residents.
In delivering these services, the City enters into contractual agreements with each client, outlining the obligations of both parties.
“Under these agreements, the City of Windhoek provides municipal services, while clients are expected to pay for these services to ensure their continued provision. Section 31 of the Electricity Act 4 of 2007 allows a licensee to reduce or discontinue electricity to a customer if the customer has failed to pay any fees, charges, or monies due,” she explained.
Kamati said this provision does not specifically state that the fees must be related to electricity.
“The current provision grants the licensee authority to discontinue services which are not electricity-related if the customer fails to pay any fees, charges, or other monies due to a Local Authority,” she said.
The City maintains that the Council is a license holder, and the customer has breached this agreement due to nonpayment, which may result in the discontinuation of the electricity supply.
“The City’s Credit Control Policy empowers the use of innovative, cost-effective, efficient, and appropriate methods to collect debts owed to the Council. However, some clients do not adhere to this agreement, making it challenging for the Council to collect outstanding debts through other means,” she said.
As a result, blocking prepaid electricity meters has been employed as a last resort to encourage clients in arrears to settle their outstanding accounts.
Kamati noted that the inability of clients to pay for services adversely affects the Council’s operations, impeding its ability to provide services to other residents.
“Recognising that the City of Windhoek is not violating any laws by employing this method of blocking the prepaid meters due to outstanding fees, the City will continue to use prepaid meter blocking as a complementary measure alongside other debt-collection methods,” she said.
This approach ensures the financial sustainability of the city’s services and encourages timely payments from residents.
“The accumulation of unpaid bills can lead to a significant financial shortfall for the City, affecting its ability to provide essential services and hindering other civic initiatives,” she said.
Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, when quizzed by The Brief about the council position earlier, had noted the need for the local authority to comply with the law.
