By Kuvee Kangueehi
WINDHOEK
Following the reshuffle of ten permanent secretaries last week, the Office of the Prime Minister is planning to rotate a number of deputy permanent secretaries in the coming week. Prime Minister Nahas Angula told New Era yesterday that there would be a re-alignment of deputy permanent secretaries to complement the earlier reshuffle of permanent secretaries.
Angula said the aim of the reshuffle is to strengthen ministries and to make them more efficient.
“We want to improve the human resources of the different ministries to make them as efficient as possible,” he said.
He said his office is currently busy negotiating with the various ministers and the deputy permanent secretaries that will be affected.
“We need to negotiate with them and cannot move them around as we please because they are not cabinet ministers.”
The Prime Minister said some ministries’ administration was in a poor state and there was an urgent need to make the reshuffle. Angula singled out the Ministry of Health and Social Services and said there were serious management problems and the ministry was not paying some of its creditors.
He said there was a communication breakdown within the ministry and important clients such as Afrox, which supply oxygen tanks to the hospital for critically ill patients, were not paid.
The Premier said the reshuffle would also ensure that ministers would no longer blame administration when there was inefficiency in their ministries.
Angula refused to divulge the names of the deputy permanent secretaries that would be affected, saying this could jeopardize negotiations.
However, New Era has reliably learned that the ministries which could be affected are the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
In the re-deployment of permanent secretaries last week, Angula transferred Steve Katjiuanjo from his office to the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General. Katjiuanjo replaced Lidwini Shapwa who moved to the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement Frans Tsheehama moved to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and Nangula Mbako moved to the Office of the Prime Minister.
Ministry of Environment and Tourism Permanent Secretary Malan Lindeque moved in at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, while Andrew Ndishishi went to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.
Kahijoro Kahuure in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry moved to the Ministry of Health and Social Services while Kalumbi Shangula replaced Lindeque.
At the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Loine Katoma was redeployed to serve in the Cabinet Secretariat while Mbeuta Uandjarakana replaced Katoma.