Windhoek
Press secretary in the presidency, Albertus Aochamub, has poured ice-cold water on suggestions that he had a fallout with President Hage Geingob and is poised to leave his job and take over as CEO of the City of Windhoek.
Talks gained momentum in recent weeks that Aochamub is to take over at the City of Windhoek – which would mean he is to quit the State House job that he got just a year ago.
Aochamub said he too has picked up the speculation linking him with the city job – and delinking him from his current deployment – but said there is not an iota of credibility to such talks.
He hysterically laughed off suggestions that he has fallen out of favour with President Geingob, saying the relationship between the two remains impregnable.
“My current job is a national call for duty, and as a patriot I wouldn’t just abort an important mission like that,” he said.
“I have a job and I won’t, therefore, be on the lookout for another one. The president has entrusted me with this task and I’m not about to betray his trust,” the former director-general of the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) said.
The City of Windhoek has been without a substantive CEO since 2014 after the retirement of then incumbent Niilo Taapopi.
Several city executives have since acted in the position, but attempts to fill the position fully have so far failed, amidst allegations of favouritism and cronyism.
Last week the City of Windhoek re-advertised the position for the umpteenth time, sparking further discontent among Windhoek residents.
There is a feeling that with many socio-economic challenges the city faces, such as an acute water shortage, Windhoek needs a substantive CEO to help mitigate some effects of these challenges.