Easy access at the tip of your fingers, subscribe to our daily ePaper version of our New Era Newspaper.
Home / Did Not Leave State House in Search of Greener Pastures
Did Not Leave State House in Search of Greener Pastures
2006-12-15Staff Report 2 "By Mbatjiua Ngavirue WINDHOEK Well-known former NBC TV personality, Charles Mubita, yesterday confirmed he has left the key position he held at State House to join the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana. Mubita held the position of Deputy Director: Speech Writing within the Office of the President - a position in which he worked closely with President Hifikepunye Pohamba. He resigned from his post to take up the position of Manager: Media and Public Affairs at SADC headquarters on December 1 this year. State House is known to be a tough, high-pressure environment to work in, and some have speculated Mubita may have decided to get out of the frying pan before things become too hot. Speaking in a telephonic interview from Gaborone, Mubita however gave the assurance that nothing ""sinister"" happened at work that led to his departure from State House. He said he in fact left State House on good terms with everyone there. ""I should say thank you, especially to the head of state, President Pohamba. I learnt a lot from working with him, and I think I grew as a person while I was there,"" he remarked. Mubita was keen to emphasize that he did not leave State House in search of greener pastures, explaining, ""It just happens in life that sometimes you want to explore new horizons."" The main reason for taking the SADC job, he adds, is that he feels Namibia needs to be visible and properly represented in the structures of important regional bodies such as SADC. ""This was another way to elevate Namibia. Namibia should make its contribution to regional and international organzations, and I left to make sure Namibia is properly represented even though it somehow meant going into exile again,"" he said. Mubita has a long and colourful career behind him, starting with his service in the Peoples Liberation Army of Namibia (Plan) 1974-1977. Following his service in Plan, he joined the liberation movement's broadcasting arm, the Voice of Namibia (VoN) where he, in succession, became station supervisor of VoN stations in Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Congo Brazzaville and Tanzania. After Namibia's independence in 1990, he joined the newly constituted Namibian Broadcasting Corporation. He eventually rose to the position of Controller: News and Current Affairs at the NBC. He left in 2003 running his own printing and publishing company for a brief spell, producing election materials for the Electoral Commission of Namibia. Following the May 2004 Swapo Extraordinary Congress, newly nominated Swapo presidential candidate Hifikepunye Pohamba tapped Mubita to run his election campaign. When Pohamba was sworn in as Namibia's new president in April 2005, Mubita naturally followed him to State House to take up a position on the president's staff." 2006-12-15Staff Report 2
