WINDHOEK- President Hage Geingob has defended his intervention in the City of Windhoek (CoW) infightings, saying those claiming that his involvement into the City affairs violated the separation of power principle were “completely false”.
President Geingob was roundly criticised for ordering last week that suspended City of Windhoek CEO Robert Kahimise and City Police Chief Abraham Kanime be reinstated into their jobs without further delay.
Analysts said his instructions circumvented existing laws.
But speaking to the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in Gaborone, Botswana, last week, Geingob said: “Firstly, we have three organs of state, which is the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, and then we can have what we can call separation of powers as you are saying in those three organs.” “Now, the executive executes, others makes laws, others interpret the laws but the executive execute the decisions of others. But now coming to me saying I have interfered in the other organ’s duties and therefore by so doing violated the separation of organs or branches is completely false,” he told NBC.
“Executive executes, and the governor [of Khomas Region] is appointed by me. The governor is accounting to [me], and mayor is elected through elections on party list and majority of people who are elected in the council nominate or appoint the mayor, so I was talking as Swapo – to councillors who are Swapo members – but also as the President who appointed the governor and governor is there to execute,” he added.
Geingob said those criticising his intervention were confusing the issue of separation when it comes to organs but the division of labour is a different thing.
“So it is true, when it comes to division of labour, there is a central government, there is a regional government and local authority. They are political and they are in the executive – that’s the explanation,” he explained.
“If there are court cases, if these people were taken to the court, then I will be wrong to say stop the proceedings. If the investigations are on-going for two years, in the case of Kanime suspended on full salary and sat home, while the City is burning, therefore I said let’s stop these suspensions, it is just going on like a joke, people are suffering. We are talking about shacks, lets address the problem we are facing, I didn’t interfere with the judiciary,” he said.
“If the cases are on-going in the courts they must go on, if the charges has been laid in the courts they must go on, but at the executive level coming from the governor who is appointed by me, who is answerable to me and is the government that the executive arm I am dealing with, the only thing I think they misunderstood is the division of labour,” he said.
“I appointed the governor. They [City councillors] are elected and they are falling basically under us, they are reporting to the minister which I appointed, that’s it,” he said.