Pohamba gives green light on new NamPower CEO

PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba has approved the recommendation of the NamPower Board of Directors that Paulinus Ilonga Shilamba of the Electricity Control Board be appointed as the new NamPower chief to replace Dr Leake Hangala.

Hangala’s term of office expired late last year but was renewed until March this year while the post was being re-advertised. No official announcement has been made, but it is reliably understood that President Pohamba told Cabinet on Tuesday that he had been assured by the Minister of Mines and Energy that the interviewing and selection process for a new CEO had been transparent and that he would therefore honour the Board’s recommendation.On March 16, The Namibian reported that Cabinet had failed to reach agreement on the board’s recommendation for a new CEO.Some Ministers questioned the integrity of the interviewing process and the fact that in the Board’s shortlisting of candidates for the post, the incumbent CEO, Leake Hangala, had been placed fifth on the list of five.The matter was then referred to President Hifikepunye Pohamba for a final decision.The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Netumbo Ndaitwah, denied The Namibian’s front-page report on disagreement in Cabinet on the matter.While confirming the fact that agreement had not been reached at the last Cabinet meeting in a televised statement, she attributed this to time constraints rather than a lack of consensus.She also confirmed that the President had been asked to make the final decision.However, sources said yesterday that the President had taken the matter back to Cabinet on Tuesday this week, where he had made a statement in favour of the NamPower Board’s recommendation that Shilamba take up the key post.Shilamba’s name topped the list of five candidates listed in order of preference by the Board as: Paulinus Shilamba; G Enkara, formerly of Namdeb; Steve Haihambo of the Roads Contractor Company; B Wessels of Pupkewitz; and finally, Hangala himself.The change in CEO comes at a time when Namibia, along with the rest of southern Africa, faces a critical power shortage.Hangala recently announced plans to invest N$8 billion over the next four years to strengthen Namibia’s capacity to import power from countries other than South Africa while working to make long-term projects, such as Kudu Gas, a reality.Late last year, Hangala was acquitted on internal disciplinary charges levelled against him by the Board of the parastatal, a move seen in some quarters as a bid to oust him.He had been taken to task for approving a N$65-million electricity upgrade contract.He is widely regarded as having presided over the affairs of one of the few parastatal ‘success stories’ in Namibia.NamPower Board Chairperson Andries Leevi Hungamo, when approached for comment yesterday, said he had “received no information as yet”.Meanwhile, late yesterday outgoing NamPower CEO Hangala could not confirm who his successor would be but said he had been given his marching orders by the Board and would end his term at NamPower on Friday.(See separate story) * PAULUS SHILAMBA: The website of the Electricity Control Board indicates that the new NamPower head, Paulus Shilamba, obtained an MSc Electrical Engineering degree from the Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1988 as well as a Diploma in Management and Business Administration from Henley Management College, United Kingdom, in 1998.It adds that he has more than 14 years’ experience in the electricity sector, starting as an electrical engineer and later promoted to the position of Deputy Director Electricity in 1992 and Director Energy in 1997.He was also involved in the management and planning of key electricity projects including the rural electrification programme, hydropower and the Kudu gas development.Shilamba was one of the architects of the country’s energy policy, which culminated in the adoption by Parliament of the Energy White Paper in 1998 and the subsequent restructuring of the electricity market and distribution sector.He also played an important role in the development of the electricity legislation, which culminated in the creation of the ECB in July 2000.No official announcement has been made, but it is reliably understood that President Pohamba told Cabinet on Tuesday that he had been assured by the Minister of Mines and Energy that the interviewing and selection process for a new CEO had been transparent and that he would therefore honour the Board’s recommendation.On March 16, The Namibian reported that Cabinet had failed to reach agreement on the board’s recommendation for a new CEO.Some Ministers questioned the integrity of the interviewing process and the fact that in the Board’s shortlisting of candidates for the post, the incumbent CEO, Leake Hangala, had been placed fifth on the list of five.The matter was then referred to President Hifikepunye Pohamba for a final decision.The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Netumbo Ndaitwah, denied The Namibian’s front-page report on disagreement in Cabinet on the matter.While confirming the fact that agreement had not been reached at the last Cabinet meeting in a televised statement, she attributed this to time constraints rather than a lack of consensus.She also confirmed that the President had been asked to make the final decision.However, sources said yesterday that the President had taken the matter back to Cabinet on Tuesday this week, where he had made a statement in favour of the NamPower Board’s recommendation that Shilamba take up the key post.Shilamba’s name topped the list of five candidates listed in order of preference by the Board as: Paulinus Shilamba; G Enkara, formerly of Namdeb; Steve Haihambo of the Roads Contractor Company; B Wessels of Pupkewitz; and finally, Hangala himself.The change in CEO comes at a time when Namibia, along with the rest of southern Africa, faces a critical power shortage.Hangala recently announced plans to invest N$8 billion over the next four years to strengthen Namibia’s capacity to import power from countries other than South Africa while working to make long-term projects, such as Kudu Gas, a reality.Late last year, Hangala was acquitted on internal disciplinary charges levelled against him by the Board of the parastatal, a move seen in some quarters as a bid to oust him.He had been taken to task for approving a N$65-million electricity upgrade contract.He is widely regarded as having presided over the affairs of one of the few parastatal ‘success stories’ in Namibia.NamPower Board Chairperson Andries Leevi Hungamo, when approached for comment yesterday, said he had “received no information as yet”.Meanwhile, late yesterday outgoing NamPower CEO Hangala could not confirm who his successor would be but said he had been given his marching orders by the Board and would end his term at NamPower on Friday.(See separate story) * PAULUS SHILAMBA: The website of the Electricity Control Board indicates that the new NamPower head, Paulus Shilamba, obtained an MSc Electrical Engineering degree from the Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1988 as well as a Diploma in Management and Business Administration from Henley Management College, United Kingdom, in 1998.It adds that he has more than 14 years’ experience in the electricity sector, starting as an electrical engineer and later promoted to the position of Deputy Director Electricity in 1992 and Director Energy in 1997.He was also involved in the management and planning of key electricity projects including the rural electrification programme, hydropower and the Kudu gas development.Shilamba was one of the architects of the country’s energy policy, which culminated in the adoption by Parliament of the Energy White Paper in 1998 and the subsequent restructuring of the electricity market and distribution sector.He also played an important role in the development of the electricity legislation, which culminated in the creation of the ECB in July 2000.