Tses Village Council chairperson Julian Christiaan has accused the Swapo party of orchestrating the power cuts instituted by NamPower in several towns in the Hardap and //Kharas regions, saying it is a “political stunt.”

NamPower last month announced that it would start suspending the electricity supply of defaulting regional and local authority councils by 05 June 2023 should they fail to settle their debt.

Amongst the defaulting local authority councils listed at the time were the Rehoboth, Mariental and Karasburg municipalities, as well as the village councils of Gibeon, Bethanie and Tses, amongst others. The suspension of electricity supply to defaulters started Monday.

Christiaan in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday said the Tses Village Council owes NamPower N.dollars 8 million, which has accrued over several years.

“Those in charge of NamPower have made their decision,” Christiaan said.

He said the power outages are “a clear sign that Swapo is trying to punish the two regions”, both of which have strong representation from the Landless People’s Movement (LPM).

“The power outages are the ruling party’s way of playing a game and trying to prove a point to our people,” he said.

When contacted for comment, Rehoboth Town Council public relations officer Desire Pieters said the council is working on resolving the issue and apologised for the inconvenience the situation has caused residents.

Attempts to contact the chairpersons of other local authorities were futile, as all calls went unanswered.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency