Windhoek
When the Namibia Financial Institutions’ Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) employees rubbed shoulders with their CEO, Phillip Shiimi, at the company’s team building session in Windhoek on Friday, they in all likelihood did not know that it would be the last time they would see him alive.
The next day they woke up to the devastating news that Shiimi, 43, had died in a car crash when his double-cab Toyota pickup rammed into a truck. He died on the spot.
The accident happened at about 05h30 on Saturday, some 68 kilometres from Otjiwarongo on the B1 road to Otavi.
Ironically, Shiimi was travelling from Windhoek to Grootfontein with his wife Eli, 40, to attend a funeral of a relative.
His wife survived the gruesome crash but was treated for shock and some minor injuries, and has since been discharged from hospital, Namfisa spokesman Isack Hamata said yesterday.
Besides his wife, the deceased is survived by his parents and three children. NamPol’s Inspector Slogan Matheus said the truck had been parked on the side of the road but a part of its trailer protruded onto the road.The 34-year-old truck driver, Jonas Muule, escaped unharmed.
Hamata said Shiimi was very jovial and interactive with everyone at Namfisa’s team building session held in Windhoek on Friday.
“We had a fun day … but he left early to prepare for the trip. It is so unfortunate that it turned out that the team building was his last goodbye to us. The mood after the team building was a game changer for the whole organization, because he wanted to build a new culture within Namfisa where everyone is happy,” said Hamata.
Hamata said the Namfisa Board would meet today to decide on the way forward in terms of succession – in the interim.
The spokesman said Shiimi’s grand plan was to transform the local financial industry so that it could be responsive to the needs of people.
“He drove that process with a passion because he wanted consumer financial services to be at the centre of everything, so that the country can reap the benefits, to ensure that less money flows out of the country, and to provide a platform whereby Namibians can fully participate in the financial sector,” said Hamata.
• Additional reporting by Nampa