Windhoek officials sign up to transport shake-up

Senior officials from local and national government gathered in Windhoek last week for an Urban Mobility Working Session based on a simple but radical principle: no proposal could be tabled unless participants were willing to commit to it.

Organised by the City of Windhoek (CoW), the event aimed to accelerate the capital's transport agenda and shape Namibia's Draft Public Passenger Transport Act. It drew senior representatives from the CoW, the ministry of works and transport, the Khomas Regional Council, the Roads Authority, the Road Fund Administration, the Road Transportation Board, and other key stakeholders.

The session rested on two core principles: commitment and trust. Delegates agreed that ideas could only be proposed if those present were prepared to own and act on them. "Too often, workshops produce good ideas with no ownership," said Pierre van Rensburg, the City's strategic executive for urban and transport planning. "Our intention was that every proposal should already have a name, an institution and a commitment attached to it."

This approach drew on the concept of a "trust-rich pathway", as described by The Global Trust Project, a foundation for sustained action built on trustworthiness, shared responsibility and follow-through. International evidence, including Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) research, shows that higher trust and coordination in government and transport systems lead to better implementation, public confidence and institutional performance.

Participants focused on three priorities set by the CoW: securing stable funding through annual fiscal contributions and fuel levies; finalising the Draft Public Passenger Transport Act to strengthen governance; and improving coordination among institutions handling planning, financing, regulation and service delivery.

These efforts matter amid rapid urbanisation. Some 45% of the world's 8.2 billion people now live in cities, with two-thirds of future growth expected there. In Namibia, around 500,000 people, nearly one in five, call Windhoek home, making mobility decisions here vital for the economy, jobs, education, healthcare and daily life.

Facilitated by The Global Trust Project, part of the VUKA Group, the session translated these goals into concrete actions and public commitments. "Commitment became one of the principal outputs," said Dominic Wilhelm, the project's Executive Director. "If an input could not be committed to, it could not be submitted. This provides a meaningful basis for a trust-rich pathway."

The pledges are set to inform Windhoek's mobility plans and refinements to the draft Act.