Otjiwarongo stalls CEO appointment

THE infighting within the Otjiwarongo Town Council over who is to be the CEO has led to the abrupt postponement of a meeting that was supposed to serve as a final appointment of the chosen candidate this week.

The Namibian reported last week that the council failed to agree on the best candidate to appoint and that the two names of the candidates were forwarded to the Swapo office for approval, but council members denied this was the case.

Last week the spokesperson of the town council, Adelheid Shilongo, after denying that the names were forwarded to the Swapo regional office, told The Namibian in an email that the council will hold a meeting on 4 November to confirm the recommendation of the appointee amongst themselves.

However, sources say this meeting did not take place due to a deadlock because the council could still not come to a common decision on which candidate to appoint between the current Acting CEO, Ismael /Howoseb and former acting CEO, Agatha Mweti, despite all the councillors being present.

Sources also say the Mayor of Otjiwarongo, Hilda Jesaja has decided to seek the advice of the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development in making the appointment on their behalf.

The source reveals that Jesaya will be seeing minister Charles Namholo, with the names of the two candidates for him to make the final decision even though a minister can not legally be the appointing authority of a CEO.

It is also being alleged that Jesaya is rooting for a 50/50 female representation, thus supporting Mweti, while the Management Committee Chairperson, Councillor Bennes Haimbodi and Councillor Julius Neumbo are hoping /Howoseb is the one to be recommended.

The Mayor confirmed to The Namibian that Monday’s meeting had been postponed until further notice, citing internal reasons that she declined to disclose. “Yes, there is a reason for the postponement of the meeting but I cannot disclose it at the moment,” she said.

Meanwhile, /Howoseb, has distanced himself from last week’s allegations that he is involved in a series of corruption incidences concerning government tenders.

/Howoseb this week told The Namibian that following last week’s report, he was questioned by some councillors for his alleged involvement in dubiously getting a water supply tender for his own company through a friend and a refuse drum contract of the municipality for a company named Taburu, and claimed these reports were not true and that his hands are clean.

“I was not involved in any dubious practices and I’m going to take this up with my lawyer and sue for defamation,” he said.