Andrew Kathindi
City of Windhoek (CoW) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Kahimise is set to end his tumultuous relationship with the city tomorrow after four years at the helm.
This comes after the CoW executive revealed that he had not been engaged to reconsider his resignation.
“The decision to leave tomorrow (Friday) is final. Tomorrow is my last day,” he said.
Quizzed on whether any regional executive committee members or councilors had approached him, Kahimise told Windhoek Observer, “No.”
This comes as the CEO previously hinted that he would be willing to stay on if asked to by council and depending on the conditions they would set to keep him on.
This follows media reports that some Swapo Khomas regional executive committee members wanted Kahimise to stay on and attempted to sway City of Windhoek councilors.
Kahimise is set to leave his office on October 31 after he handed in his resignation in early August.
Kahimise leaves his employment with the City during a pending investigation into his conduct while CEO, for which a disciplinary hearing was opened on 12 October.
Windhoek Mayor Fransina Kahungu confirmed to Windhoek Observer that there was an item regarding the CEO set for council to discuss, but has been pending for the last few weeks.
She further said that the findings of the disciplinary hearing have not yet been presented to council.
“I have no idea. Council was not informed about the outcome of that disciplinary hearing.”
Kahimise’s departure brings to an end four rocky years at the City of Windhoek where his main bone of contention was his clash with City police boss Abraham Kanime. The CEO recently spoke out about his time at the City, labeling the environment there as “toxic”.
Kahimise joins regional electricity distribution company, Central North Regional Electricity Distributor (CENORED) as its CEO.
He previously served as CEO of Erongo Red, another power utility company in the Erongo region from 2012 to 2016 when he left to join the City.
The CoW at that point had been without a CEO since December 2014, following Niilo Taapopi’s retirement. The City could not lure its initial preferred target, NAMDEB CEO, Riaan Burger due to his high salary demand.
Chairperson of the CENORED Board, Moses Matyayi confirmed in August that Kahimise had accepted the offer to be its new CEO.
