Maihapa Ndjavera
The Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday inaugurated newly appointed board members as the term of the former board expired on 31 October 2020. At yesterday’s announcement, the Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa, revealed the new members as Bethuel Mujetenga, Kadiva Hamutumwa, Melkizeldek Uupindi, Josephine Amukwa, Fernando Somaeb, and Martha Hitenanye. Their duties are effective from yesterday, 4 November 2020, until 4 November 2024.
“Unless a different determination has been made in terms of Section 14(1)d of the Public Enterprises Governance Act and subject to Section 15, a member holds office for four years, except for the chairperson, whose term of office is five years,” Mutorwa explained.
He stated that there was no favouritism in the appointments and said it was characterised and anchored upon the principles of openness, transparency, and professionalism. He further noted the importance of gender equality in the appointment.
“The senior officials from the Ministry of Public Enterprises, Works and Transport and also from some private sector organisations, maximally and professionally handled the technical aspects of the recruitment process, namely: shortlisting, interviews, and compilation of the executive
report on the recruitment of the board,” said the minister.
After the approval, endorsement, and support from the Cabinet on 3 November 2020, Mutorwa appointed Bethuel Mujetenga as chairperson and Kadiva Hamutumwa as vice-chairperson of the NCAA board.
The minister urged the board to conduct a follow up on some urgent issues such as the submission requesting for deviation or exemption from the application of MPE’s remuneration directives, dated 30 October 2020. Secondly, he urged them to follow up with the placement of seconded MWT staff that was sent back to the ministry as per submission to the executive director at MWT, dated 2 November 2020. He continued that the board should also follow up with disciplinary matters, concerning Reinhard Gaertner, which is addressed by the MWT minister.
In delivering his acceptance speech as the chairperson and on behalf of the entire board, Bethuel Mujetenga, said apart from corporate governance aimed at ensuring accountability and prudent financial management while upholding ethics, the new board will ensure the implementation of the primary legislation, specific operating regulations, safety oversight functions, qualification and training of technical staff, procedures and technical guidance, licensing and obligations, surveillance obligations and resolutions of safety concerns.
He further stated that the board will ensure that Namibia and its airline, the Namibia Airports Company and the civil aviation industry at large are not on the list of countries with serious safety concerns which might lead to visiting airlines to cease their operations in this country. “If this happens, our tourism industry will be adversely affected and our gross domestic product will decline,” Mujetenga concluded.
- mndjavera@nepc.com.na