Tujoromajo Kasuto
The City of Windhoek municipal council and management committee are at each other’s throat after the council blocked attempts by the management committee (MC) to usurped council authority for the recruitment process of Windhoek’s Chief Executive Officer position, which has been vacant for nearly two years.
According to CoW Mayor and Chair of Council Sade Gawanas, the decision to continue with the recruitment process is not the responsibility of the management committee, because the committee is only authorised to make recommendations to Council.
‘’As the matter stands currently, the Management Committee is usurping powers which as a sub-committee, it does not have in law. Therefore, it could be overstepping its powers. Considering how far the recruitment process went, Management Committee cannot terminate the process without the approval of the Council and cannot and will not enforce and bully the Council,’’ she asserted.
This comes after MC Chairperson Ndeshihafela Larandja of IPC stated at a press conference yesterday that the MC has the authority to restart the recruitment process if it believes the interview panel was not transparent, that there were irregularities in the recruitment and selection process, or that the interview panel’s recommendations were not in the best interests of Council.
She revealed that the MC discovered irregularities in the process, such as incorrectly counting the number of candidates who applied, the published advertisement not complying with regulations, and the former acting CEO, George Mayumbelo, being shortlisted.
Consequently, the recruitment process is in limbo as the matter is before Council ‘’to be dealt with in terms of principles of legality, rationality, reasonableness, and justifiability until such time that Council pronounces itself, the Management Committee will not force the process to restart, and Council will ensure due diligence,’’ said Gawanes.
This comes after the city recommended Moses Matyayi, the current CEO of Otjiwarongo municipality and Conrad Lutombi, the CEO of the Roads Authority, as the top two candidates for the
position of CEO.
Matyayi and Lutombi were shortlisted for the position alongside Joyce Mukubi, Deputy Executive Director at the Ministry of Works and Transport, Eino Mvula, Chief Business Unit Executive at NamWater and Charmill Zamuee, a researcher.
59 candidates applied for the job.
The Mayor also castigated some members of the committee for allegedly trying to use the platform as an opportunity to advance their political agendas.
Gawanas explained that her press conference was not in reaction to the one of Larandja, but was planned. ‘’It is very disappointing of the IPC to have used a Council platform to score political points,’’ she commented.
Before the delivery of her speech, the mayor said that, ‘’the era of mismanagement of Council resources, infrastructure and the enjoyment of the gravy train, ended in December 2020’’.
She said some political parties do not understand common purpose, agendas and objectives but Instead they try to hijack the leadership to navigate at will and whim – ‘’No, that cannot be!’’.
