John Muyamba
Rundu-Rundu Mayor Verna Sinimbo on Friday night confirmed to New Era that the town council has made a decision to suspend its administrative chief, Romanus Haironga, for suspected meddling in ongoing investigations into his doings and that of other municipal staff.
“We have served Romanus Haironga with a suspension notice. He is being suspended for three months. The suspension is due to his interference with ongoing investigations against him and council staff. He is also not cooperating and thus we took that decision,” Sinimbo explained.
Haironga’s suspension came into effect on Friday and the town council has already appointed an acting CEO. “Haironga will get his full pay during the suspension period and we have Matheus Naironga, who is the strategic executive for technical department, as acting CEO,” Sinimbo added.
On May 16 Sinimbo signed an appointment letter that appointed a private investigation agency to conduct investigations into alleged corrupt practices involving the CEO. The investigators’ assignment includes interviewing potential witnesses and obtaining witness statements. The agency will then furnish council with a record of its findings.
Haironga’s office has on several occasions been accused of awarding tenders to incompetent contractors, who were alleged to be connected to the town’s administrators.
Haironga could not be reached for comment by the time of going to press.