The City of Windhoek management committee is facing a possible vote of no confidence after being accused of undermining the council for failing to implement its resolutions. 

Among the frustration of the council is the appointment of the CEO.

During a previous meeting held on 2March the frustrated councillors demanded that a progress report on the recruitment of the new CEO be submitted in the special council meeting, before the end of March to discuss the matter.  

However, the council said the management committee failed to convene the special meeting to discuss the item until the next council meeting, which took place last Thursday, 31
March.

 “The council felt undermined by the management committee for failing to implement the council resolution.  As a result, they refused to carry on with any other matter until that resolution is implemented,” said a councillor, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity.

Another councillor fumed that the management committee is frustrating the council and will be facing a vote of no confidence if the resolutions are not implemented by the next meeting, scheduled for 12 April.

“We are already in April and none of the resolutions is implemented by these people. The City of Windhoek is a big organisation to have no CEO for years. They are delaying deliberately but we will take action,” said another councillor.

Another frustrated councillor indicated that the management has contravened the Local Authority Act 26 that states the management committee shall be required to ensure that decisions of the local authority council are carried out. “The last meeting, the item discussed was the recruitment for the position of the CEO and demanded that it be discussed during a special meeting to be convened before end of March together with other items. Therefore, the councillors felt that they are not willing to discuss other items, which were scheduled to take place on 31 March. They refused to go ahead, as a result, the meeting was postponed,” said another councillor.

“The management committee also need to be mindful of the implications of non-implementation of council resolutions that can be legal,” another male councillor warned.

However, the chairperson of the City of Windhoek management committee, Ndeshihafela Larandja, said the council at its last meeting never refused to discuss other matters, nor was it felt that it was undermined by the management committee for not implementing its resolution on the recruitment of the CEO but the council never passed such resolution in the first instance.

 Larandja indicated the management committee needs to table its report to council on its decision for noting as no recommendations were made to the council to appoint a CEO and to re-run the recruitment process as matter of urgency.

“The management committee exercised its powers in terms of the Recruitment and Selection Regulations for Local Authorities by resolving that the recruitment process of the CEO was replete with gross irregularities and further resolved that there should be a re-run of the process. The process was, to say the least, rigged and corrupt in form and substance,” she said.  

Larandja indicated that the council deferred the tabling of the report to a special council meeting and resolved that such meeting should be convened. 

“The management committee does not convene council meetings nor does it have such powers. In the meantime, the management committee resolution will be implemented in due course to re-run the recruitment of the CEO. The management committee will equally never undermine the council - never. It will just execute its powers as per the prescript of its powers,” said the chairperson.

“The management committee has executed its duties as far as the recruitment exercise is concerned and has taken a resolution in terms of the Recruitment and Selection Regulations to re-run the process as provided for in terms of the said regulations,” she further explained.

The city has been without a substantive CEO since November 2020 after Robert Kahimise resigned to join Cenored. 

The position was advertised, and five candidates were shortlisted for the interviews to present their short - and long-term strategic plans publicly - the first time city executive candidates were interviewed on a public platform. 

The public interviews were followed by a psychometric test. The five shortlisted candidates included NamWater executive Eino Mvula, deputy executive director for administration in the ministry of works Joyce Mukubi, researcher and entrepreneur Charmill Zamuee, Roads Authority CEO Conrad Lutombi and Moses Matyayi, who is the CEO of the Otjiwarongo municipality.

“They are not being honest about the process, and they want to hide information from the council. It cannot work like that. We demanded the progress report from them, as we already have the human resources report that recommends the best candidate,” a councillor, who requested anonymity, said. 

Another councillor who spoke to New Era said the actions of the management committee to delay the process are frustrating and affect governance in the city. The mayor of Windhoek Sade Gawanas said the matter in question is not yet resolved and she is therefore not in a position to discuss it.

– ljason@nepc.com.na