WINDHOEK – Works and Transport Minister John Mutorwa is scheduled to announce TransNamib’s new board of directors this morning, amid talks that some key performers during interviews were overlooked.
Consternation particularly emanated from the human resources’ position on the board, which youthful expert in the field, Shiwana Ndeunyema, was by far the best performer in terms of interviews conducted late last year.
This was after the board positions were publicly advertised.
Information obtained by New Era shows that Ndeunyema, who is Manager: Organisational Development and Learning at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust), got an average final score of 91 percent – ahead of Erastus Elia (68 percent) and Calista Schwartz-Gowases (61 percent).
According to documents seen, the panel had recommended Ndeunyema for the position. The 30-year-old possesses a Master of Science in Human Resources (Performance Management & Organisational Behaviour) from Heriot-Watt University in the UK, a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources from the same university and a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from University of Namibia, amongst other qualifications. It could not be established what qualifications other contenders in this category possess.
Ndeunyema yesterday confirmed he was not appointed to the board. “They did not call me,” he said briefly before hanging up.
Mutorwa yesterday said the appointments were made in consideration of various factors – and not scores and qualifications alone.
“We received 55 applications for seven board positions which were publicly advertised,” he said.
“Almost all applicants were really of good quality but we had to look at aspects such as gender and demographics. Demographics are particularly important because the entire board cannot, for example, be occupied by people from Mutorwa’s village no matter how qualified they are,” the minister told New Era yesterday.
Mutorwa did not comment on what specific criteria he used to bypass Ndeunyema – considering that the other two candidates were not recommended for appointment.