By:Justicia Shipena
The City of Windhoek (CoW) has taken decisive action to assure its residents that no one will face power disconnection.
The CoW’s recent assurance of uninterrupted power supply to its residents comes at a time when the municipality itself, specifically the areas of Groot Aub and Brakwater, have been listed among the customers who have outstanding debts to NamPower.
“The City of Windhoek would therefore like to assure all our residents, and in particular the residents of Groot Aub and Brakwater, that they will not be affected by the power disconnection,”assured Harold Akwenye, the city’s Manager for Communications.
Akwenye said the City Council has made the necessary payment arrangements to ensure that the outstanding amount is settled.
He also reassured the residents they will not be affected by the possible power disconnections announced by the national power utility, NamPower.
“Once again, the City’s residents can rest assured that they will not be affected by NamPower’s planned suspension of electricity to defaulting customers,” he said.
The City Council said it remains committed to rendering efficient and effective municipal services.
A week ago, the acting Chief Executive Officer of CENORED, Gawie Awaseb, had assured the residents of Okahandja that power supply will not be disconnected.
Awaseb clarified that, while CENORED itself does not owe NamPower any outstanding debts, the joint venture company, CENORED Okahandja JV and Okahandja Municipality are the entities responsible for the debt.
In 2017, CENORED, the regional electricity distribution company, had an outstanding debt of over N$60 million owed to NamPower.
However, Awaseb said significant progress has been made in reducing the debt to just N$2 million.
Last week Tuesday NamPowerheld a conference on the company’s debt collection plan and debt repayment incentive in Windhoek.
The company’s Managing Director Kahenge Haulofu said the disconnection of electricity supply to defaulting customers is divided into stages, starting from stage 1, which will result in electricity suspension of four hours for one day in one week.
He had also noted that clients who fail to pay their bills will see these phases extended to include an extra day every week until stage seven, at which point there would be a 4-hour daily disconnect for the entire week.
Haulofu had said throughout stages eight and nine, NamPower would lengthen the period of electricity suspension by two hours per day, per week, up to a maximum of eight hours per day.
He also claimed that under the terms of the power supply agreements, NamPower is authorised to completely cut off the electricity supply to non-compliant consumers.
The Debt Collection Plan, which is a scheduled disconnection of electricity supply to defaulting customers, is planned to start on 5 June 2023.
This announced planwill affect consumers who do not settle their delinquent accounts by 31 May 2023.
NamPower explained that the long overdue accounts by some of its customers triggered the debt collection plan, which involved the suspension of electricity to defaulting customers, at the time, with the total amount owed believed to be in the range of N$800 million at that time.
Haulofu stated that NamPower is owed N$1.5 billion, with N$842 outstanding.
The power utility also said it would waive interest on outstanding debt accumulated over the previous 12 months for customers who pay their outstanding amount in full by 31 May 2023.
Another town saved from the power disconnection is Lüderitz as NamPower announced that the “Lüderitz Town Council have made acceptable arrangements with respect to their accounts and have been removed from the list of defaulters.”