KATIMA MULILO – A group of disgruntled volunteers at Katima Mulilo State Hospital has accused officials of “rampant nepotism and corruption”, claiming their years of service, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, have been ignored in favour of well-connected individuals.
The ministry advertised entry-level positions, including those of cleaners and labourers, in December last year. Written and oral interviews were conducted in February this year, with over 2 500 applicants invited to compete for 25 vacancies.
The group, identifying themselves as the Volunteer Concerned Group from Ngweze, formally addressed their grievances in a petition dated 27 March 2026 to the Health and Social Services Minister, Esperance Luvindao.
Reading the petition in front of the Katima Mulilo State Hospital on behalf of the group, Mundia Sambi said volunteers feel sidelined and demoralised by recruitment practices they describe as unfair and biased.
“We have observed that nepotism is practised when recruiting institutional workers. HR favours their relatives and friends for such posts, which is unfair to us and damaging our morale,” Sambi said. The volunteers, many of whom served as cleaners at the hospital, claim they played a critical role during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic but were overlooked when employment opportunities later arose.
“Some volunteers worked during Covid time, but when posts were advertised, they were never recognised,” Sambi added.Beyond allegations of nepotism, the group also raised concerns about what they described as widespread corruption within the Ministry’s local structures at Katima Mulilo State Hospital.
They are now calling on the Ministry to urgently introduce an anti-nepotism policy to ensure transparency and fairness in recruitment processes.
The group further appealed for formal recognition of volunteer work, urging authorities to acknowledge their contributions and consider them for future employment opportunities.
“We are humbly asking the Minister to guide us on what to do and to give us a way forward,” Sambi said.
Another volunteer, Precious Mbanga, said many of the former volunteers worked for the institution during the COVID-19 period and hold multiple service certificates, which were mandatory alongside vaccination, yet were still sidelined.
Riah Mutame, also a volunteer, expressed dissatisfaction with the process, alleging that some of the successful candidates neither applied nor sat for the “easy” tests.
Group leader Annetty Kamwi said the protest would continue until a satisfactory response is received from the regional director, the governor or the minister.
“We dropped the letters of our concerns to the P.A part of the regional director, the P. A copy of the regional governor and via email to the P. A part of the minister,” said Kamwi.
Contacted for comment, Zambezi health director, Woito Kapumburu, said yesterday that he has been out of the office since last week and needs to touch base with the team.
-Additional reporting by Nampa
-anakale@nepc.com.na