Andrew Kathindi
Dr Bernard Haufiku, former Minister of Health in the first Geingob Administration has had his appointment as the National Coordinator for the response to COVID-19 confirmed after current Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula stated that Haufiku was a part of the team making decisions about the country’s response.
Earlier this month, Windhoek Observer reported that Haufiku, without a written letter of appointment, was in limbo over his appointment following his decreased visibility at press conferences regarding COVID-19 updates.
On the matter of Haufiku, Shangula said, “Bernard Haufiku was appointed as a Special Health Advisor by President Hage Geingob. He is a contributing member to a team that deals with this matter (COVID-19); the team of which I am the leader and the spokesperson.”
When previously contacted for comment, Haufiku had said that since a daft appointment letter with his mandate plus draft terms of reference was forwarded to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, it was never finalized and returned to him. Follow up inquiries had not brought results.
It is widely believed that Haufiku may have been too frank in his critical opinions on how government was handling its response to the pandemic, including admitting that the random testing for the virus was proceeding at a slow pace.
