The Keetmanshoop municipality has been operating in the absence of a fully constituted management committee since January this year.

According to the town’s spokesperson, Dawn Kruger, a recent court ruling where an additional member of the management committee should have been sworn in, determined that the initial process was procedurally wrong in terms of the law, hence the swearing-in could not take place. 

‘’Magistrate Unchen Konjore during the swearing-in ceremony at the Keetmanshoop Magistrate’s Court explained to the five Landless People’s Movement (LPM) councillors that one of them, during a previous occasion, erred in nominating Easter Isaak, who already served as chairperson of the council’s management committee, to fill the vacancy,” the Kruger explained. 

Kruger said, according to the presiding officer, the initial process must first be nullified by the office of the attorney general and thereafter the vacant MC position should be gazetted before nominations/elections to fill the vacancy can take place. 

“In the light thereof, the municipality is not having a fully constituted management committee in place since then,” she added.

Kruger also claims that all ongoing projects were not in any sense halted because of this vacuum in the council and that all administration processes are still running smoothly. 

“New resolutions taken and recommended by the town council to the management committee cannot be endorsed at this stage by it (MC) for purposes of implementation due to the vacancy,” she concluded.

LPM first recalled its reelected mayor Maree Smit late last year, after which the same fate fell upon Sydney Skakana and Willy Kisting. In the meantime, they elected McDonald Hanse as mayor and Fatima Jossop and Annelize Knouwds as ordinary councillors whereby Jossop was also sworn in as a member of the management committee.

Charlycta Kooper serves as deputy mayor. 

In order for a management committee at a local authority to become functional, it should have three members out of the seven town councillors serving on it.

Gaudentia Krӧhne and Johannes Nghidinwa are serving as the two additional ordinary councillors on the ticket of Swapo.

- sklukowski@nepc.com.na