Former Swakop Mayor ‘re-elected’

ROSINA //Hoabes, former Mayor of Swakopmund from 2003-2007, prior to Germina Shitaleni, was re-elected as Mayor of the town last Thursday.

Her nomination as Mayor by Swapo during the inauguration of the new council was predominantly met with jubilation. Many attending the inauguration told The Namibian that it was a ‘good thing’ because of her long history with the council.’As Swakopmund Mayor she served well in the past, and was also a good Chairperson of the Council’s Management Committee during Germina Shitaleni’s Mayorship. //Hoabes has the wisdom and experience to lead as the Mayor and Chairperson of the council, and she is sure to get a lot of support,’ a participant at the meeting said.Others felt that Swapo’s number one candidate for the Local Authority elections, Nehemia Salomen, was nearly sure of the position as Mayor, but believe that his appointment as the Chairman of the Council Management Committee was also ‘a good move’.Before the deputy-Mayor of the town could be nominated, //Hoabes however in her acceptance speech, accidentally acknowledged Juuso Kambueshe (Swakopmund businessman) as the deputy-Mayor – which attracted quite a stir as the cat was let out of the bag.Regardless of this tongue in the check incident, Kambueshe was eventually nominated (and seconded) as deputy-Mayor.Swapo representatives explained to the newspaper that ‘the decision was obviously made before the meeting’, so there was ‘actually no surprise’, regardless of the slip of the tongue.Other members of Council’s Management Committee are Rosalia Andreas, Louise Madi and Anthony Bessinger.The remaining four members of the predominantly Swapo Council are Elifas //Khoaseb (United Democratic Front); Peter Steinkopff (Swakopmund Residents Association); Ferdinand Hamukwaya (Rally for Democracy and Progress) and Uahimisa Kaapehi (National Unity Democratic Organisation).