2016-06-06Staff Report 2 Swakopmund The Governor of the Erongo Region, Cleophas Mutjavikua, says the town of Usakos and its affairs still remain a major concern, as the town is still “on auto-pilot”. According to the governor, Usakos has been operating without a CEO for a long time. He added that this is negatively affecting developments at the town. The governor made the remarks during his state of the region address in Swakopmund on Friday. He, however, noted that they are looking into the situation and are currently consulting with the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to change the status quo of the once-bustling town. “We’re in consultation with the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to second a CEO in order to address the situation there, as the situation cannot continue like this. We want to see development at Usakos,” he said. Usakos Town Council has a reputation of suspending or firing its chief executives without due process. Its current CEO, Gruzi Goseb, has been on suspension for a year now. Last year the council survived a last-minute attempt to auction off council property due to debts. The auction was attempted by a former employee to get compensation of slightly more than N$400 000, as awarded to him by the Labour Court in December 2012 for his unfair dismissal by council. Usakos Town Council then hurriedly agreed to make a payment of N$50 000 on a monthly basis until the debt is settled. As for Omaruru, which was investigated for corruption and saw a number of councillors suspended, the Governor added that Andre Plaaitjie, the corporate and human resource manager of Swakopmund Municipality had been seconded to Omaruru and this brought stability to the town. “Omaruru is steadily regaining its status. Henties Bay just won the best town in Namibia award last week.” He said Karibib and Arandis remain the flagships of the region and prime examples of best practice. 2016-06-06Staff Report 2
