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Monday, April 29, 2002 - Web posted at 9:05:24 pm GMT

Former City CEO loses court appeal

THE former Town Clerk of Windhoek, Vinson Hailulu, has lost his Labour Court appeal over the Windhoek City Council's decision not to renew his contract.

Hailulu appealed against a Windhoek District Labour Court judgement, which dismissed his claim that his services as Windhoek CEO had been unfairly terminated.

Judge Annel Silungwe, who sat as Labour Court President in the hearing of the appeal, took the unusual step of ordering that Hailulu had to pay the costs of the appeal.

That is because, in the Judge's opinion, he acted frivolously by instituting the appeal.

Hailulu was appointed as Windhoek's Town Clerk - a post later renamed as Chief Executive Officer - from June 1994.

In terms of the Local Authorities Act, his term was to expire on February 15 2000.

Between July 1998 and June 1999, he was granted a year's leave of absence so he could pursue his studies towards a Master's degree.

This was later to prove a significant event. Hailulu used it as one of the grounds for his argument that his term of office could not end on February 15 2000.

By November 9 1999, the City Council's chairperson wrote to Hailulu, asking him to make representations to the Council on the extension of his appointment, and inviting him to specifically address his "lack of vision", "lack of leadership", and "lack of commitment to the transformation of the Municipality from its previous structures to a structure more appropriate to a local authority in post-independent Namibia".

After Hailulu responded, he was informed that the City Council had come to the unanimous decision that his contract would not be renewed.

He sued, claiming his services had been unlawfully terminated, and that because he had been absent on study leave for a year he had to serve in the position for a year after his return from that leave - that is, until June 30 2000.

But according to Judge Silungwe it seemed there was no impropriety in the Council's exercise of its discretion on whether to renew Hailulu's contract or not.

As for Hailulu's claim that he should have been given another year after returning, the Judge remarked: "(He) should rather thank his lucky stars for the opportunity accorded to him to acquire postgraduate education, as this was for his own benefit."

Hailulu was represented by Rudi Cohrssen, instructed by PF Koep & Co. Dave Smuts, instructed by Lorentz & Bone, represented the City Council.

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