THE Local Government Ministry has asked Keetmanshoop mayor Arnold Losper to apologise and retract a statement in which he accused the Permanent Secretary, Erastus Negonga, of not understanding and misinterpreting the Local Authorities Act.
Losper’s accusations stemmed from a letter Negonga had written to him, denouncing the town council’s recent staff appointments made against the advice of its management committee.
Negonga directed Losper to refer back the appointments to management, saying staff appointments were the prerogative of the management committee as provided in Section 27 (b) (1) of the amended Local Authorities Act (Act No.23 of 1992).
‘The involvement of the council in matters of staff appointment is illegal and without force,’ Negonga stated in the letter.
Losper’s response, quoted in The Namibian, was that Negonga did not understand the Act, and had a problem interpreting it.
The ministry said in a press release issued last week that there was no misinterpretation of the Local Authority Act, as Losper had claimed.
‘The Act in question clearly stipulates that for any post below the chief executive officer, the appointing authority is the management council and not the council,’ it stated.
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