{"id":100952,"date":"2026-04-16T12:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me"},"modified":"2026-04-16T13:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:36:08","slug":"sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sankwasa forced town council to suspend me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Suspended Katima Mulilo Town Council chief executive Raphael Liswaniso says minister of urban and rural development James Sankwasa had forced the council to suspend him.<\/b><\/p>\n

Liswaniso, who won a labour case against the town council for his suspension on 28 October without pay, was suspended for a second time on Monday.<\/p>\n

Sankwasa, in a letter addressed to mayor Kabende Kabende on 13 April, says he approves of Liswaniso\u2019s suspension with pay and with immediate effect.<\/p>\n

His letter says the matter must be treated with urgency.<\/p>\n

Liswaniso, in a press release alongside his lawyer, advocate Victor Kangumu, yesterday said treating his suspension as a matter of urgency creates a smokescreen as to who initiated his latest suspension.<\/p>\n

\u201cSankwasa suspended me in the first instance through his administrator, while he was in charge of the council.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it would be common cause for him to either influence the council or coerce the council into suspending me again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe threatening statement of \u2018take this as urgent\u2019 turns it into a directive, even if it was a request to suspend,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Kangumu says the latest suspension aims to sway public perception against his client.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new suspension fails to observe and appreciate that the arbitration award binds both parties upon filing of such award by any affected party,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In the recent suspension seen by The Namibian yesterday, the council says the conditions are that Liswaniso was required to surrender all council properties in his possession by 14 April.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, he is expected to remain within the Katima Mulilo jurisdiction, and to make himself available whenever his presence is required.<\/p>\n

If he wishes to travel outside the jurisdiction during suspension, he must seek the council\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

Kabende, when approached for comment this week, referred The Namibian to the suspension letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no comment. Please refer to his suspension letter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Questions sent to Sankwasa went unanswered yesterday.<\/p>\n

Namibia Association of Local Authorities president Moses Matyayi yesterday spoke out against the \u201ccastigation\u201d of local authority chief executive officers (CEOs) and officials.<\/p>\n

He said CEOs and officials are being suspended arbitrarily or expelled without following proper procedure.<\/p>\n

… where this is due to political influence or undue interference.<\/p>\n

We believe they pose a threat to a number of issues, including the non-renewal of [employment] contracts, and as CEOs we are threatened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Matyayi said the trend is not only unjust, but also degrading.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may have enduring career-limiting implications for many of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Liswaniso was suspended late last year without pay and benefits on charges of alleged misconduct, and contraventions of the Local Authorities Act, internal personnel rules, and council procedures.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Suspended Katima Mulilo Town Council chief executive Raphael Liswaniso says minister of urban and rural development James Sankwasa had forced the council to suspend him. Liswaniso, who won a labour case against the town council for his suspension on 28 October without pay, was suspended for a second time on Monday. Sankwasa, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":100951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-100952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Sankwasa forced town council to suspend me\u2019 - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Suspended Katima Mulilo Town Council chief executive Raphael Liswaniso says minister of urban and rural development J ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Sankwasa forced town council to suspend me\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Suspended Katima Mulilo Town Council chief executive Raphael Liswaniso says minister of urban and rural development J ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-16T12:56:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-16T13:36:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2026\/04\/sm_1776333791.922567.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Sankwasa forced town council to suspend me\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-16T12:56:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-16T13:36:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me\"},\"wordCount\":459,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2026\/04\/sm_1776333791.922567.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sankwasa-forced-town-council-to-suspend-me\",\"name\":\"\u2018Sankwasa forced town council to suspend me\u2019 - 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