Africa-Press – Namibia. RESIDENTS of Maltahöhe in the Hardap region say they are sick and tired of having acting chief executive officers (CEOs) as this causes a lack of accountability and following up on community matters.
The residents held a demonstration to air their grievances last week.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Johannes Schmidt said the current acting CEO was appointed without the prior approval of the minister of urban and rural development, Erastus Uutoni, as per the Local Authorities Act.
Schmidt said the council never provided the community with reasons for appointing an acting CEO from outside the Maltahöhe Village Council, while a senior member of the regional council could have been appointed.
“Suffice to say, we urgently call on the council to immediately begin with arrangements to follow the set legal and administrative procedures to start with the recruitment process and appoint a substantive CEO, and not an acting CEO.
“We are serious about this issue. Please find a permanent CEO with immediate effect, and we demand the immediate removal of the acting CEO,” he said.
Since the suspension of Eliphas Shipanga, who died in 2013, the council has had three acting CEOs.
Gershon Tjitaura is currently acting after being seconded by the Daweb constituency office.
Others have been Ivan Vries, now Berseba Village Council’s CEO, and ||Garoës, an accountant at the Maltahöhe Village Council.
The residents furthermore want the council to cancel the agreement it has with NamWater for water provision to residents.
Schmidt said revenue collection and water billing have become questionable at Maltahöhe and require the council’s immediate intervention.
Residents claim the council does not inform them of the content of agreements and their implications.
“We call on the council to change this situation where NamWater has installed reservoirs and is charging the village council, while the council could directly supply water to the residents at a cheaper rate.
“Start with a turnaround strategy to repossess water resources,” Schmidt said.
Residents demanded that the housing alienation scheme from council members to residents are reinstated with immediate effect.
They also want water and electricity provision to be put on tender, and demanded that the council renovate the neglected SME Park and community parks.
“The community has so far been denied the right to participate in council affairs, while we can make a meaningful contribution.
“We call upon the councillors and administrators to include us and inform us of developments that are affecting our lives,” said Schmidt.
The residents have given the council 21 days to respond to their demands.
Calls and text messages to council chairperson Hanna Swartbooi went unanswered for more than two days.
Tjitaura said Tuesday an advertisement for the CEO position was published in newspapers in 2022, but there was a delay in the appointment process due to unqualified candidates who were shortlisted.
“After consultation with the ministers, reshortlisting was done, and subsequently interviews were set for the end of November 2022. However, at the interview the panellists, who included a ministerial representative, realised there was an error.
“The recruitment regulations state that the advertisement should run for 21 days, but the CEO advert only ran 19 days,” he said.
Tjitaura said the panellists advised the council to rather restart the process to avoid legal challenges by applicants.
The position will soon be readvertised, he said.
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