OTJIWARONGO - Two local authority councillors of the Otjiwarongo municipality resigned from their positions last week. They are Gideon Iiyambo of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) and Sebetius Guiteb of the Landless People’s Movement (LPM). Guiteb was a full member of the management committee, while Iiyambo served as an additional member.

They now remain ordinary council members from 8 February 2024. The duo allegedly resigned after a lengthy disagreement between them over the recruitment process of Otjiwarongo’s chief executive officer (CEO), which only saw one male candidate out of 47 applicants being interviewed for the position.

The Otjiwarongo CEO position has been vacant since July 2023 after Moses Matyayi left for greener pastures at the City of Windhoek.

Chairperson of the management committee at Otjiwarongo, Godhardt Hoko, told Nampa on Sunday afternoon that he is aware of the resignations.

“In their resignation letters, they only cited a broken work trust, as well as their personal reasons, as grounds for their resignations,” he added. Hoko denied accusations of him bending requirements, which led to only one candidate making it to the interview for the position of CEO on 10 February 2024 at Otjiwarongo.

He said there is nothing sinister about the panel interviewing one candidate for the position, adding that it is a normal practice at the municipality.

Mayor Gottlieb Shivute, on his part, on Monday said the two councillors have already been replaced by councillor Ernst Muraranganda of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), who will serve on the committee as a full member, together with Hilde Jesaja and Hoko.

Jesaja, Shivute, Hoko and deputy mayor Julienda Kampungu are all from the Swapo Party.

- Nampa