Africa-Press – Namibia. PRESIDENT Hage Geingob’s economic adviser, James Mnyupe, and City of Windhoek finance executive Jennifer Comalie are shortlisted for the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) chief executive officer job.
The two are part of a shortlist of five, with three DBN executives including risk and compliance executive Saima Ashipala-Nimengobe, who chaired the board of the military owned company, August 26 Manufacturing.
The other two in the race are: head of SME Robert Eiman and marketing and communication executive Jerome Mutumba.
The state-owned bank advertised the position of chief executive officer to replace Martin Inkumbi, and Elite Employment was appointed in September last year to lead the selection process.
It shortlisted two internal and three external candidates, while 12 candidates reportedly applied for the job.
“Yes, we advertised the role and I can confirm that we are leading the process,” Yvonne Leroux of Elite Employment told The Namibian yesterday.
Interviews are set to be conducted at the end of this month.
Members of the interview panel include executive director at the finance ministry Titus Ndove, DBN’s board chairperson Sarel van Zyl, MTC’s head of corporate legal services Patience Kanalelo, and Swakop Uranium’s human resources manager Diana Husslemann.
Since assuming one of the most significant economic positions in the government, Mnyupe, an adviser to Geingob, has seen his profile soar. He played a pivotal role in advancing Namibia’s green hydrogen aspirations and now serves as the green hydrogen commissioner.
Mnyupe is a chartered accountant and previously worked at Allan Gray Namibia as the managing director.
Comalie is a chartered accountant by profession. She is currently chairperson of the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor).
Comalie is perhaps publicly known for her role as acting chief executive officer at the City of Windhoek, where she is said to have clashed with Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda in 2020.
Comalie confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that she applied for the DBN top job.
“I can confirm that I applied for the job. My journey has mostly been in the public sector. So I’ve always wanted to work for a company that will effect change, make impacts for the betterment of the society and country, and so I believe DBN is one one of them,” she said.
Ashipala-Nimengobe joined the state-owned bank in September 2016. She previously worked at Ohlthaver & List as the group manager of risks and compliance from September 2014 to September 2016. Ashipala-Nimengobe was also the risk manager for Namibia Breweries Ltd and a risk officer at NamPower.
Ashipala-Nimengobe has a bachelor of accounting, auditing and finance from the University of Namibia (Unam) and an MBA from Stellenbosch University.
When contacted by The Namibian, Ashipala-Nimengobe said she is not allowed to comment.
“I only saw it on social media. We are not allowed to talk,” she said.
Eiman joined DBN in October 2020 from First National Bank Namibia, where he was the head of small business enterprises. He holds an MBA from Unam.
“I am aware of the shortlisting but I cannot comment,” Eiman told The Namibian on Thursday.
Mutumba joined the DBN in September 2013 from mining company Rio Tinto, where he worked as external affairs manager.
Mutumba was appointed by president Hage Geingob as deputy chief of mission at Washington DC, in March 2019. He served in that position until December 2020.
He holds a bachelor of business economics and English, an MBA in strategic management from Maastricht School of Management in The Netherlands, and a masters of linguistics from Southern Illinois University.
Mutumba said that he is not at liberty to comment on classified internal processes.
“I can’t say anything, please understand internal processes,” he said.
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