Martin Endjala
The current Chief Executive Officer of the Karasburg Town Council in the //Kharas region, Nico Titus was blocked from entering his office yesterday by members of the Landless People’s Movement, causing chaos and frustration among community members.
It is reported that the Karasburg Mayor, Maria Veldskoen instructed the LPM members to change the locks of the office of the CEO in an attempt to deny him access to the office, saying that he is not recognized.
Titus returned to office after a one-year suspension in connection with N$10 million that was allegedly diverted from the Council’s bank accounts into private pockets. Titus and his personal assistant, Mervin Amupolo were suspended in 2021. Amupolo has since resigned.
The CEO’s arrival was greeted by an angry group of LPM members.
Veldskoen however denied giving instructions to lock the CEO’s office and said that who ever wants to inquire about any changes of locks should approach her office and ask her directly and desist from “spreading lies”.
“It’s a lie. We did not even touch the CEO’s office. The community is lying. Whoever has questions about why we changed the locks must come to my office,’ she explained.
She said that she will make an official response to the allegations at a later stage.
Meanwhile, Titus confirmed that he was indeed blocked from entering his office yesterday morning when he arrived at work at 07h25. He added that he found the Mayor and his office personnel outside and that the building’s front door was locked.
He said that as the executive officer, he ought to have been notified of such changes, but that this was not communicated to him. He added that the Mayor has no jurisdiction to do what she did.
“Only the substantive CEO has such authority because whoever occupies the position is also the accounting officer of all the council’s assets,” he said.
He has since reported the matter to the Karasburg police station.
The chaos is said to have started last week Friday when the Mayor used a council vehicle to attend a meeting of the LPM in Keetmanshoop without authorization and also used the council’s fuel card to pay for fuel for her trip.
This was an infringement of the Council’s standing rules which states that council assets are not allowed to be used for political events.
It is further alleged that the Mayor and the LPM council members have been convening illegal council meetings after working hours to find the best way to suspend Titus.
This, despite Erastus Uutoni, the Minister of Urban and Rural Development’s directives that the council does not have the authority to suspend Titus.
The council has, in the past illegally suspended Titus on two separate occasions.
Titus told the Windhoek Observer that his suspension lapsed on 29 June and that he has since been going to the office daily. He added that he was barred from entering the building for the first time on Monday after tensions skyrocketed.
In the meantime, Titus sent a report concerning the status quo of the town council and the current developments to Uutoni.
The recent meetings held by LPM are believed to be driving this whole saga, as community members believe that they are all out to get him out of the job.
According to a source on the ground who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of being targeted, the Karaburg Town Council is currently in an unstable state because the current acting CEO, Hansina Isaak and Personal Assistant, Kallie Goliath from the LPM council members are embroiled in a feud with the Human Resource Manager who refuses to pay the two acting members’ salaries.
The source said that both Goliath and Isaak are not on the payroll systems since they were not elected as per the council resolution structures nor were they recommended to the Ministry of Urban-Rural Development by the council.
The two acting members were brought in to act while the elected Chief Executive Officer was serving his suspension while he was under investigation.
The appointment of the two acting members was strongly denounced by Uutoni following letters written to his office by the community and during his visit to Karasburg earlier this month.
During the visit members of the community vented their anger towards the appointment citing it as unnecessary and a misuse of council finances.
Another community member by the name of Josef Pieters echoed his frustration towards the LPM leadership saying that they are busy tarnishing the image of the town with the way they are conducting themselves.
The community member said “We do not want the appointed PA and CEO since the current ones are still in the positions. The town council has now turned into a circus because the LPM feels that they can just do whatever they want,” he said.
