THE Gobabis town council has awarded pay increases to its executives, most of whom were described by the town’s chief executive officer as being incompetent, unqualified, overpaid and underperformers.
understands that the Swapo-led Gobabis council approved the salary increases on Tuesday last week, despite concerns of widespread incompetence among the executives.
Statistics from the Namibia Statistics Agency show that Omaheke was Namibia’s third-poorest region, but the town’s managers are laughing all the way to the bank.
Gobabis chief executive officer Ignatius Thudinyane declined to comment in detail, but said the salary increments awarded by the council need the green light from the urban and rural development minister.
reported last month that Thudinyane – who joined the Gobabis municipality last year – produced a damning report that ruffled feathers at the town.
According to his report, only one out of eight executives – the human resources manager, Frieda Shimakeleni – was competent.
The report states that three other managers’ performance levels were poor, and some “totally unacceptable”.
This was an assessment on his 180 days in office as CEO of the town, from 2 July 2018 to 31 December 2018, revealing its challenges, successes, weaknesses and possible areas of improvement.
Thudinyane’s report has since been swept under the carpet by councillors.
Sources told that some councillors do not want to implement the chief executive’s recommendations, which include removing some of the managers.
Instead, councillors threatened to take the CEO to court for allegedly revealing details of the high executive salaries.
A few weeks later, the councillors approved increments for those highly paid managers.
Before the salary hikes, the executives earned as follows per year: chief executive (N$946 000), executive for technical services Johannes Endjala (N$997 600); executive for economic development Patrick Mbala (N$986 000); while the executive for finance, Filemon Makili, got N$947 000.
The latest increments mean that Gobabis manager for electricity, Johannes Petrus Nantuua will become the highest paid at the municipality, earning over N$1 million per year, up from about N$871 400 per annum. This will be more than what the CEO earns.
Most executives will earn around a million dollars or more. The increases ranged from N$16 000 per person to N$64 000.
CEO Thudinyane’s annual salary was increased by N$40 000 to N$982 800.
Thudinyane told this week that the new salary structure for the town needs approval from the minister of urban and rural development, like is the case with other towns.
“Council only approves annual salary increments, and still needs the consent of the minister,” he said.
Urban and rural development minister Peya Mushelenga said last month that “there is no justification for high salaries when there is no service delivery”.
It is unclear whether Mushelenga has approved the salary increments for the Gobabis top brass, especially after the damning report by the CEO, who has been under pressure from some Swapo councillors.
Thudinyane issued a full-page media statement on Friday to clarify how his report was leaked to the public.
He confirmed as factual some information contained in the report regarding the incompetent executives.
“It is entirely within a new CEO’s right to assess the quality and sufficiency of resources at his disposal, including personnel. Some information is factual, while other information, especially where figures are concerned, needed discussions and confirmation,” he said.
Thudinyane added that his report was not “meant to be a witch-hunt or a disciplinary tool aimed at senior executives”.
He disputed the salary figures paid to the executives, saying the salary structure for the town was in line with the approved guidelines for all municipalities like Gobabis.
“There is no way that the Gobabis municipality’s senior executives could pay themselves unauthorised salaries and perks without detection [by the minister],” he added.
SUBSTANDARD
Thudinyane’s report paints a picture of a dysfunctional executive team, with only one executive meeting requirements.
The report states that economic development executive Mbala, who earns N$986 000, does not have academic qualifications and skills for the position he holds.
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