Katima Mulilo is once again caught in a storm that has dragged on for too long. The issue of Redforce, a debt-collection company contracted by the town council, continues to fuel anger, suspicion, and frustration among residents. What was meant to be a solution for the council’s revenue woes has instead become a source of division and suffering for the community.
Everywhere you turn, the same stories echo: pensioners humiliated for small arrears, families disconnected without notice, and residents slapped with penalties that feel more punitive than corrective. People are not refusing to pay for services they are pleading for fairness, transparency, and a council that remembers its duty is to serve, not to punish.
What makes this saga even more disturbing is that Redforce is not operating in most other towns across Namibia.
In places like Windhoek, its contract expired and residents stoop up and rejected , now only surviving on a one year contract under scrutiny, while in Walvis Bay, and Oshakati, councils have either chosen alternative ways of collecting revenue or resisted entering into such agreements altogether. Why, then, is Katima Mulilo the exception? Why is this town singled out to bear the weight of a system others have found unfit?
The answer lies partly in weak governance. For years, Katima Mulilo has struggled with accountability, financial mismanagement, and poor service delivery. The Redforce contract was presented as a quick fix: outsource debt collection, plug revenue leaks, and ease the council’s administrative burden. But a quick fix is not the same as a sustainable solution. Instead of addressing inefficiencies within its own systems, the council handed over the responsibility to a company whose profit depends on squeezing residents many of whom are already struggling to survive in an economy marked by high unemployment and rising costs of living.
This arrangement has eroded trust between the council and its people. Residents no longer feel their council is on their side. Instead, they see a municipality that has allied itself with a company viewed as predatory. This trust deficit is dangerous, because once a community loses confidence in its local authority, even legitimate policies become hard to implement.
The question that must be asked is this: if Redforce has been rejected elsewhere, why must Katima Mulilo remain its testing ground? Are our residents less deserving of humane treatment? Is our town council so desperate, or so compromised, that it is willing to ignore the suffering of its people for the sake of short-term collections?
The council must confront these questions honestly and publicly. It must disclose the full terms of the Redforce contract and invite independent scrutiny into whether the deal benefits the town or only benefits Redforce and a select few. The people of Katima Mulilo are entitled to answers. Silence and secrecy only breed more anger.
It is time for bold leadership. If Redforce cannot adapt to practices that are fair, transparent, and compassionate, then it has no business operating in Katima Mulilo or anywhere in Namibia, for that matter. The council must either renegotiate the contract to reflect community concerns or find alternative solutions that do not leave residents feeling trapped.
A municipality is not just a balance sheet. It is a social contract between leaders and the people they serve. That contract is now in tatters, and it will not be repaired by outsourcing responsibility to a company that thrives on fear.
Katima Mulilo deserves what every town in Namibia deserves: leadership with integrity, systems that work, and a council that values its people more than its contracts. Anything less is an insult to the residents who keep this town alive with their taxes, their labour, and their resilience.
The people of Katima Mulilo have waited long enough. It is time to put them before Redforce.
By Mary Mashete
Intern Journalist, 3rd year Student: Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies (Honours)
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