Adam Hartman
13 May 2008
MAYORS in the Erongo Region have been rebuked by Governor Samuel Nuuyoma for neglecting their roles as chairpersons of District AIDS Committees (DACs).
"Your declaration to fight the epidemic has become zero.
Your promise to the nation does not reflect your actions in your towns.
Financial support is also not reflected in your annual budget," the Governor - also Chairman of the Regional Aids Co-ordinating Committee - said.
He reminded the mayors - most of them present at Friday's Erongo Regional Council monthly public meeting - of their commitments as DAC chairpersons to unite in the fight against the disease.
Nuuyoma referred to the launch of the Namibian chapter of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV-AIDS in Africa, where mayors under the Association for Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN) acknowledged the magnitude of HIV-AIDS and its impact on their towns.
According to Nuuyoma, the mayors have on several occasions over the past decade aligned themselves with local and international initiatives to address the implications of HIV-AIDS.
"You have expressed deep concern about the increase in orphans, street children, widows and widowers in our respective towns and villages and acknowledged the impact of HIV-AIDS on sustainable development," Nuuyoma continued.
"You have acknowledged the poverty, in all of its manifestations the stigma and discrimination and the need for financial and medical assistance to the vulnerable groups."
He suggested that these commitments were not reflected during a recent assessment done in Erongo by a team from the Technical AIDS Committee.
Thirteen settlements and towns were visited.
Nuuyoma criticised Omaruru's town councillors for violating the Namibian Charter of the Alliance of Mayors and the Municipal Leaders on HIV-AIDS in Africa for not supporting DAC activities.
According to him, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay's DAC stakeholders did not understand their obligations or national planning policies, while home-based care was poorly supported.
Meetings were also not properly organised at these towns.
Settlements like Uis, Utuseb, Spitzkoppe, Otjimbingwe, Omatjete and Okambahe, as well as larger communities such as Arandis, Usakos, Karibib and Henties Bay, were also guilty of neglecting their DAC responsibilities.
He ordered the mayors "to go back to [your] towns and reactivate DAC as a matter of urgency".
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