Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
Windhoek
TransNamib board chairperson Paul Smith yesterday said TransNamib would appoint a permanent chief executive officer (CEO) within weeks.
The CEO position became vacant following Sara Naanda-Katiti’s suspension in October 2014 after she was charged with breach of confidentiality, breach of trust and conflict of interest.
“The process of appointing the CEO is 80 percent completed and ought to be finalised in the next coming weeks. In the meantime, the board has to govern the business with the minimum resources available to ensure its survival,” he said.
Responding to the suspension of the company’s acting CEO Hippy Tjivikua and property manager Struggle Ihuhua, Smith said the two have been suspended to enable the company to conduct an unhindered investigation into allegations levelled against them.
“Due to the resignation of the manager of business development and marketing, and the fact that the marketing department is underperforming, it was considered urgent to realign the business in order to improve its performance and customer satisfaction,” he said.
He added that as a result, and in consultation with the executive team, the board resolved that Michael Feldmann take up the acting position as executive of commercial marketing.
According to Smith, the board also decided to rotate the acting CEO position amongst the executive on a monthly basis pending the appointment of a substantive CEO. Smith went on to say the positions of the suspended executives would remain vacant until the investigation, which is envisaged to not take more than two weeks, is complete. Furthermore, Smith said the board aims to rightsize the company via voluntary early exits and voluntary early retirement as the first two options.
Whilst retrenchment of employees cannot be ruled out, such retrenchments shall be undertaken as a last resort and in compliance with the law.