Potholes across Namibia's urban roads are getting deeper as underfunding and centralised control leave local authorities unable to manage maintenance effectively.
The Namibia Association of Local Authority Officials (Nalao) says too much control has been left in the hands of the Road Fund Administration (RFA) and the Roads Authority (RA).
Nalao comprises the executives of municipalities and related urban governments.
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The association's president, Moses Matyayi, says the situation has left local authorities without adequate control over their own road maintenance budgets. "For them to continue their cartel, to continue rolling out these projects, they also now want to control the maintenance of road construction in municipal areas," he says.
RFA chief executive Ali Iipinge, however, says the administration is not obliged to support urban areas with road maintenance.
"We have no agreement with Nalao in this regard. The procedures, responsibilities, and processes are fully outlined in agreements with local authoritiues.
"They set their priorities, planning, and procurement. The RFA comes in to support them and contribute towards these priorities and programmes. We do not dictate these to them," he says.
Ipinge says funding is managed, disbursed and controlled in line with the RFA Act, and local authorities remain responsible for urban road maintenance under the Local Authorities Act.
He says the RFA has requested government support in April to address flood-related road damage and is still awaiting a response.
"If we do receive this support, then certainly the full funding will be deployed to address road maintenance and rehabilitation backlogs in local authority areas and on national roads.
"Investment in dual carriageways and highways are done in terms of the medium- to long-term roads masterplans and are typically funded by the government," Ipinge says.
N$1.3 billion needed
The RFA on Tuesday said it urgently needs N$1.3 billion to fix roads ahead of the rainy season.
Ipinge said if not addressed, existing potholes will get worse, a burden that would cost vehicle owners more in maintenance expenses.
To meet future financing gaps, the RFA is consulting on adjusting road user charges or introducing tolling.
The fund needs about N$7 billion annually to meet its current expenditure needs, Ipinge said.
It received about N$4.1 billion for the current financial year.
Ipinge said there is a maintenance and rehabilitation backlog of N$4.5 billion for the 2025/26 financial year.
'Sidelined'
Matyayi says the current structure allows both entities to dominate the road maintenance space at the expense of local councils. This arrangement, he says, sidelines local authorities from strengthening their own engineering and maintenance departments.
"It deprives local authorities from building the necessary capacity. If you don't give me the funds to buy equipment or employ the staff I need, you cannot expect me to perform at the optimum," he says.
Matyayi says under a current tripartite arrangement, the RFA provides funds, while the RA appoints contractors and manages projects on behalf of municipalities.
This model, he says, has yielded some success at Rundu with the construction of Independence Avenue and John Mutorwa Street, which were repaired under that arrangement, adding that local authorities should be allowed to appoint engineers and oversee projects directly.
"Give conditions to say employ an engineer who is at this level, who's going to be a supervisor in the permanent employment of the municipality.
"Here is also a remuneration level towards the funding we are providing you, then at least that person can create that level of capacity," he says.
Matyayi says such an approach would allow municipalities to build technical expertise and retain accountability for road works.
In March, Nalao called for a review of the funding model and proposed a minimum allocation of N$570 million for urban roads.
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Local authorities at Otjiwarongo, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and Grootfontein have previously indicated that rainfall and heavy traffic have worsened the state of their roads, while available allocations are not keeping up with repairs.
Managing funds
Matyayi says the central question remains how any new funding would be managed.
"We asked for N$300 million for Windhoek. If they get that money, will it be deployed to local authorities, or will it be managed by RFA through RA to maintain roads in local authorities?" he asks.
A road maintenance assessment carried out earlier this year saw 14 local authorities submit costing reports amounting to N$653 million to the RA to quantify rain-related road damage.
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