Niël Terblanché
The protracted process of finding a new Chief Executive Officer for the City of Windhoek is nearing the end after Conrad Lutombi, the current CEO of the Roads Authority, declined the position.
Moses Matyayi who serves as the current Chief Executive Officer of the Otjiwarongo Municipality was the other top candidate for the position at the CoW.
The top two candidates were shortlisted for the position alongside Deputy Executive Director at the Ministry of Works and Transport, Joyce Mukubi, Chief Business Unit Executive at NamWater, Eino Mvula, and Researcher Charmill Zamuee.
The candidates publicly presented their proposals for the CEO position in September 2021. At the time, the applications of 59 other hopeful candidates were rejected by the CoW’s council.
Sam Nujoma, the Chairperson of the CoW’s Management Committee confirmed that the appointment of Matyayi was approved after Lutombi declined the offer.
“The matter was discussed at the last general meeting of the City Council held in the first week of this month. Lutombi declined so the position will be offered to the next candidate on the list – in this case Matyayi. If he declines, the next candidate in line will receive an offer,” Nujoma said.
Nujoma said that the decision to approve Matyai for the CEO position has been minuted and that Erastus Uutoni, the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, will now have to make a decision about the appointment of the new CEO for the CoW.
He added that a letter informing the urban and rural development Minister about the council’s decision has already been forwarded to Minister Uutoni’s office.
“If the minutes of April’s council meeting are approved at the next general meeting in the first week of May, the relevant documents will be presented to the Minister for final approval,” Nujoma said.
Meanwhile, Matyayi did not want to comment on the process currently in motion and stated that until such time as he receives official communication from the relevant appointing authority, he will focus on his mandate as the CEO of the Otjiwarongo Municipality.
Lutombi said that he declined the offer from the CoW in November last because he is approaching retirement age and that he would much rather focus on finding his replacement at the Roads Authority.
