Hofni Iipinge on the Oshana’s region’s flood preparedness

[PODCAST]

Year after year, floods have claimed lives, cut off villages, submerged mahangu fields, and forced schools to close in the Oshana region. In one such season, 16 people drowned, including children as young as six and elderly residents trying to cross flooded oshanas at night. Entire communities like Uuvudhiya, Ompundja and Okatjali were left isolated, relying on donkey carts, boats and emergency airlifts. Studies conducted in the region have repeatedly warned about poor infrastructure, lack of early warning systems, poverty, weak disaster risk structures and limited resources, all of which continue to make Oshana one of the most flood-vulnerable regions in the country.

With those hard lessons in mind and as Namibia looks ahead the big question is: how prepared is the Oshana Region for the 2026 rainy season? To unpack what has changed, what still needs urgent attention, and how the region plans to protect lives and livelihoods going forward, we are joined by Hofni Iipinge, the Governor of the Oshana Region.