Martin Endjala
The chairperson of the Hardap Regional Council, Gershon Dausab has reminded the Swapo Party that it is no longer in charge of the region, following the fallout between the office of the governor and the regional council around the weekend’s organisation of Heroes Day at Mariental.
The regional and the local Mariental local authority council are controlled by the Landless People’s Movement, while the governor is appointed by the President as the representative of the Head of State in the region, which is in opposition hands.
The regional council withdrew its staff from the organising committee of Heroes Day, claiming that they were not consulted by the governor.
Dausab was speaking during the street renaming ceremony at Mariental on Friday to honour the likes of Josef Motinga, a local farmer, former Minister of Basic Education, Katrina Hanse Himarwa, Mathys Cronje a local businessman and the late Gaob Petrus Kooper for their role in the upliftment and development of the region and its people.
Dausab said that the governor’s action, including that of the President to exclude the regional council in the planning of Heroes Day was totally wrong.
He accepted, what he described as an apology by the Secretary to Cabinet, George Simataa in a letter dated 3 August in which he admitted not consulting the regional council’s chairperson and imploring on the chair to ensure that the hosting of the day goes as planned and to be part of the preparation meetings.
He further said that the constitution gives the regional council executive powers, which the governor is there to oversee the region as the eyes of the President and not the executor of whatever needs to be done in the region, including organising national days.
Dausab added that after carefully studying the act of parliament, he sees no executive powers of a governor. “All I can see is that he is serving at the pleasure of the president. Secondly I see in it that he is the link between the central government and the region. Thirdly he is the mediator, if there are problems to step in to say please do not do this. Fourthly, it says that he must acquaint himself with the regions activities,’’ said Dausab.
Based on this, he thus questions the governor’s actions, as on what executive powers he executed given that he holds none nor was it granted to him by the regional council, except on directives that are derived from the President.
Dausab commented that he has no problem with the governor overseeing the region since he is the eyes and ears of the President, but advised that there must be a political test as to how they approach the Hardap region.
