Walvis Bay council to vote on RedForce contract

Renthia Kaimbi

The Walvis Bay Municipal Council is set to vote on the termination of its controversial RedForce Debt Management contract after councillors were granted an extension to decide on the matter until today.

Internal sources told the Windhoek Observer on Tuesday that an extraordinary council meeting is scheduled for 10:00 today at the municipal chambers, where councillors are expected to deliberate and vote on the future of the debt collection agreement.

The meeting follows renewed pressure from urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa, who has directed the municipality to halt the contract, recover funds allegedly wasted through the agreement and investigate circumstances surrounding its implementation.

The council was previously expected to make a decision on the matter on 30 September, but was granted an extension, paving the way for today’s extraordinary meeting.

The RedForce agreement has come under sustained legal scrutiny after Sankwasa cited an Attorney General’s opinion which found the contract to be “flawed and not valid”.

Management committee chairperson Ephraim Shozi last month maintained that the agreement was not executed in accordance with Section 31A of the Local Authorities Act.

According to Shozi, the law requires a valid municipal contract to be signed by the chief executive officer and co-signed by the chairperson of the management committee.

The RedForce agreement was instead signed by the municipality’s general manager of finance, Frans !Gonteb, and the then acting chief executive officer John Esterhuizen.

“It was only signed by the technocrats, including the acting chief executive officer. It was not co-signed by the former management committee chairperson,” Shozi previously told the Windhoek Observer.

Sankwasa further argued that the procurement award did not cure the alleged defect in the contract, saying the chief executive officer was authorised to issue an award but could not validate a contract that had not been co-signed as required by law.

The dispute has also extended beyond the validity of the contract to the manner in which RedForce has collected municipal debts from residents.

Sankwasa questioned additional collection charges imposed on residents and raised concerns about the disconnection of water services from residents who had settled their municipal accounts but had not paid RedForce-related charges.

He further called for a forensic investigation into the municipality’s operations and questioned why councillors and senior officials continued defending an agreement he considered legally invalid.

The minister’s intervention followed a High Court matter involving WENA Investment, the Walvis Bay Municipality and RedForce.

A court order issued on 3 September 2026 under case number directed the municipality not to disconnect the applicant’s water supply and awarded costs to the applicant.

Sources said today’s extraordinary meeting is expected to determine whether the council will terminate the agreement or seek to retain it despite the legal concerns raised by the minister and the Attorney General’s opinion.