Windhoek
The Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) is dismayed by the rate at which boards dismiss female CEOs heading state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The SPYL says female CEOs seem to be flagrantly dismissed by boards that seem not to follow laid down procedures on good corporate governance.
Raising the concern was the SPYL secretary for information, mobilization and publicity, Neville Andre Itope, who said they have observed that heads of SOEs being fired are mainly females.
“On this basis we see progressive females being victimized by their respective boards. We are calling for their rights to be protected and for them to be given a fair opportunity to serve their country. We urge the government to find control mechanisms to end this situation,” he said.
Itope made the remarks while presenting the SPYL National Executive Committee meeting outcomes at the Swapo headquarters yesterday, following the meeting they held last week.
An English daily last week indicated that the Namibia Wildlife Resorts chief executive office, Zelna Hengari, faces suspension following a board resolution. However, this seems a mere rumour.
Female CEOs given the boot were Saara Naanda who was axed from TransNamib, Maria-Nangolo-Rukoro who was ousted from the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) as MD and Theo Namases who received a golden handshake after her axing as CEO of Air Namibia.
Itope further said that they also observed that some SOEs continuously show poor financial performance and called on them to strategically turn around such performance to become good institutions and serve the purpose for which they were established.
The youth league spokesperson also said they noticed with great concern the non-utilization of the Ramatex infrastructure ever since its closure.
“We resolved that the SPYL secretary for economic affairs be tasked to engage the government and the City of Windhoek to ascertain the possibility of utilizing the Ramatex area for industrialization activities in line with our growth at home agenda and industrialization goals.”
Itope also touched on the drought in the country and invited all Namibians in the private sector to assist government in drought relief programmes by contributing to the efforts being made by the government.
On finding new ways to overcome the effects of the drought, Itope suggested: “We call on our government to explore the possibility of harvesting the Okongo aquifer that was discovered recently. This will address our water demand.”