The vacant Chief Regional Officer position in the Karas Regional Council caused uproar at last week’s council meeting.
A reliable source said there was heated debate of a motion on whether the position should be re-advertised for the third time. Controversy has surrounded the top job since October 2008 when the council invited applicants for the position. On February 13 2009 another advertisement was published, with four candidates – Hardap Education Director Ben Boys, Maureen Hinda, Karas Regional Council Director of Administration Saul Kahuika, Simon //Garoëb and former NamWater Regional Manager Leopoldt Niipare – being shortlisted for interviews.Local Government Permanent Secretary Erastus Negonga then recommended that Niipare be appointed after he had scored the highest points during an interview. However, the Public Service Commission (PSC) refused to endorse Negonga’s recommendation, saying it had found a host of irregularities regarding his request. The PSC found that Negonga had failed to consult with the Karas Regional Council before submitting the recommendation, The Namibian was told. A section of the Regional Councils Act stipulates that a regional council ‘shall appoint, after consultations with the Minister’, a person as chief regional officer. Furthermore, the PSC questioned why there was no word in Negonga’s submission about what had happened to those who had responded to the first advertisement. At last week’s meeting councillors Hilma Nikanor, Toivo Nambala, Dawid Shoombe and Paulus Efraim voted against the motion that the position be re-advertised, The Namibian was informed. Instead, they pushed for a council recommendation that Niipare be appointed. But Governor Dawid Boois and Willem Apollus countered the four councillors’ motion, arguing that the council should wait until the questions raised by the PSC were answered. A source said it also surfaced at the meeting that Niipare was one of the applicants who had responded to the first advertisement, but could not be shortlisted because he did not meet the requirements.luqman@namibian.com.na
