Africa-Press – Namibia. CANDIDATES for the Windhoek municipality’s chief executive officer position were asked to state their ethnic background among other criteria in the recruitment process for the position.
Some councillors believe the municipality should start re-evaluating its staff complement and consider ethnicity as a requirement for recruitment to achieve ethnic and gender balance.
Labour expert Herbert Jauch, however, questions the intention of the recruitment committee’s requirement that applicants should state their ethnicity. Jauch says it is illegal for the municipality to ask candidates for this information.
He says this violates provisions of the Constitution, specifically Article 10, which states that “nobody should be discriminated against on the basis of race, ethnicity …”.
“That is an absolutely outdated and illegal requirement altogether. It cannot be justified. If the question about the job is a requirement of whether the candidate needs to speak a certain language, then you need to state that. Ethnicity is irrelevant, and it should never be asked and can never be considered for any job,” Jauch says.
Apart from ethnicity, other criteria considered by the recruitment committee included qualifications, experience and knowledge of local authority governance and policy.
The only instance which justifies ethnicity requested, Jauch says, should be when institutions are considering the implementation of affirmative action, “but then it should not be stated as ethnicity, but rather as ‘previously disadvantaged persons’,” he says.
“There is no law in Namibia that would allow the ethnic allocation of jobs … It cannot be relevant in an independent Namibia,” he says.
A total of 61 candidates applied for the position of Windhoek chief executive officer (CEO), and only five were shortlisted for the three-staged interview process: Roads Authority CEO Conrad Lutombi, Otjiwarongo Town Council CEO Moses Matyayi, NamWater’s Eino Mvula, Joyce Mukubi, who is the deputy executive director of administration in the Ministry of Works and Transport, and Charmill Zamuee.
Lutombi and Matyayi have allegedly emerged as favourites for the position. After the public presentations last week, the municipality’s management committee was set to meet to deliberate on the outcome of the recruitment process and further recommend a candidate for appointment.
‘NO CONTROVERSY’ Windhoek municipality’s acting CEO, George Mayumbelo, yesterday said there was nothing sinister about the ethnic requirement.
Mayumbelo said the municipality used the affirmative action policy, “which guides and ensures equity among the workforce with respect to various factors of which ethnic diversity is one”.
“Other factors include gender balance and persons living with disabilities. The municipality’s affirmative action plan strives to ensure that balance is achieved and that no one group is favoured. Ethnic diversity among the workforce is therefore a key consideration, hence it being noted,” he said.
Mayumbelo earlier this week said the criteria and all processes used for the recruitment process were approved by the council. He said the councillors also approved the selection process, which involves various stages.
Apart from ethnicity and other requirements, Mayumbelo said the recruitment committee also conducted a background check on the candidates considered for employment, including their social media footprint.
“Whether they are tribalists or they are sexists, and so on and so forth. We also have to check whether they have got a criminal record. This was done to protect the image of the institution, because it would cause serious reputational damage to the institution if you bring in somebody with a criminal record or someone with a corrupt background,” he said.
Some councillors have, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing process, saying it appears not to be transparent. Sade Gawanas of the Landless People’s Movement yesterday said she was not satisfied with the manner in which the process was handled, saying it lacked integrity.
This was because councillors were not allowed to be part of or to observe the recruitment process. She said it does not make sense that “only people from three or four ethnic groups applied in the whole of Namibia”.
“We have a concern with gender and ethnic balance in the whole organisation. These are important questions to ask,” she said. Gawanas also said she was not aware if the council approved the recruitment criteria. MISSED
Some of the notable names which did not make the interview process include former Windhoek CEO Robert Kahimise, former Unam’s pro-vice chancellor for finance and administration Boniface Mutumba, former Oshakati town council CEO Werner Iita, and former Khomas regional director for education Gerard Vries. Others are Grootfontein CEO, Kisco Simvula, Makalani Fund manager head Salomo Hei and Standard Bank’s Sigrid Tjijorokisa.
