Keetmans given a second chance

By: LUQMAN CLOETE

THE Keetmanshoop Town Council has been spared dissolution as per recommendation of an investigating team after Local Government Minister, Charles Namoloh, gave it a second chance to solve endless disagreements between councillors and administrators.

Namoloh’s decision not to dissolve the council was based on recent findings of ministerial investigation conducted at the council, The Namibian has established.
The investigation centres around a litany of allegations including the handling of plots and alienation schemes, issues relating to the tender board, contractors, disciplinary procedures, withholding of financial reports, misappropriation and mismanagement of funds and the lack of good relations between the council and the community.
A leaked report on the findings of the investigation revealed that the council had lost the focus to strengthen the statutory institutions to deliver services and develop the town due to endless power struggles, factionalism and division among councillors.
The reports says that  instead of engaging in constructive debates leading to decisions that are in the best interest of the town,  councillors chose to focus on attacking each other.
The report added that the power struggles and the divisions within the council has provided a smoke screen behind which irregularities such as uncontrolled behaviour of councillors and officials, neglect of duties and failure to put systems in place continues unabated.
“The power struggle, the tension and rising emotions is so evident whenever the councillors are together in a meeting. Each member wants to show how powerful or intelligent he or his grouping is, or to blame the officials, other councillors or their groupings for all the wrongs at the council,” the report reads.
The  investigation team blamed the town’s mayor  Moses Titus (DTA) for allegedly dividing the people, organising  private meetings with some councillors, manipulating council’s management committee councillors Margaret Snewe (DPN) and Mathilde Isaaks (RDP) - accusations  which he dismissed as baseless and aimed at tarnishing his name.
Titus questioned why other councillors such as Gabriel Freyer’s (Swapo Party) wrong doings were not reported to them, according to the report.
During the interrogation by the investigation team, the councillors admitted that they aligned themselves in political groupings, especially during the annual mayoral elections, determining who should occupy the which  portfolio during these elections.
“We also observed that depending on what the issue to be strategised about, the Swapo councillors (Fiina Elago, Freyer, Janse Van Vuuren) grouped together, the mayor retains his grouping (Isaaks and Snewe) and Councillor Kotze (Willie Kotze -RDP) will be alone and play the deciding denominator,” the report states.
The investigating team found that the council is in disarray as there is a total breakdown of systems, processes and disregard of law and regulations.
Added to this, it also found that councillors were interfering in the council’s administration, that there is no channel of communication between council and local community, lack of expertise such as town engineers and planners,  and that council’s staff and salary structure is outdated while management and ordinary council hold lesser meetings than the number prescribed by the law.
Based on these findings, the investigation team said it had found enough reasons justifying a recommendation that the council be dissolved.
However, it decided that the council be given a second chance due to the commitment and willingness of the councillors to change their conduct.
It also recommended that the ministry carries periodic monitoring to access progress and to design special interventions to deal with specific shortcomings along the way.
The investigating team also said it could not follow up on specific issues related to financial and personal matters, local tender issues, the Build Together housing programme, issues related to the Titus and Freyer spat due to limited time.
It recommended that these issues be investigated by the ministerial internal audit division.

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