Eba Kandovazu
THE City of Windhoek Council still has not been served with the appointment recommendation of Conrad Lutombi by management as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and no decisions have been made whether or not to reject his appointment, Landless Peoples Movement (LPM) Councillor, Sadé Gawanas, says.
Gawanas is responding to queries by the Windhoek Observer Newspaper, on claims that council members have rejected Lutombi as the incoming CEO. According to her, Council members have also not formerly seen the candidates’ score cards indicating Lutombi as the highest scorer. Gawanas however explains that she had doubts on the recruitment process, adding that a restarting of the process is anticipated, depending on Council’s next meeting outcome.
“The recommendation has not come to Council as of yet. Whatever information that the media has gotten, we have not officially received. The matter still needs to serve at Council. I personally have an issue with the way the entire process was conducted. I had questions around it and I’ve spoken to the Acting CEO. We had concerns as there was no transparency. Therefore I personally did not appreciate it because at the end of the day I had no questions than answers,” she says.
Meanwhile, City of Windhoek Spokesperson, Harold Akwenye, says that the Council’s management is meeting later today to finalise the way forward on the recruitment of a CEO. “I do not know whether or not they are satisfied with the appointment of Lutombi. I also just heard through the grapevine and in newspapers, there is nothing concrete. We have not formerly been informed,” Akwenye says.
Asked whether he deliberately favoured Lutombi as reported in the media, Acting CEO, George Mayumbelo, says he was fair and unbiased in scoring the candidates, adding that his participation on the interview panel was endorsed and approved by the Management Committee.
“The recruitment process of the Chief Executive Officer has complied with all requirements of the Regulations,”he says.
