Traffic chief’s suspension still shrouded in secrecy

THE Windhoek City Police Traffic Chief, Eliphas !Owos-Oab, remains on suspension for reasons unknown to him and at least half the city councillors.

In the more than a month since !Owos-Oab was suspended, the City of Windhoek has yet to conclude internal investigations into the matter. A despondent !Owos-Oab told The Namibian on Wednesday that he had still not been given any reasons for his suspension and had enlisted legal aid in an attempt to get more clarity on the matter.”Since then [the suspension] I have had no communique with the municipality.The unfairness in this whole thing… I think I have a right to consult a lawyer,” he said.His lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that he had written to City CEO Niilo Taapopi this week to determine the grounds for his client’s suspension.Well-placed sources within the City Police have intimated that Owos-Oab is reported to have been found incompetent in managing the City’s traffic unit despite having been permanently appointed after completing a probationary period.The Namibian understands that the council’s endorsement of Owos-Oab’s appointment to one of the top three positions within the City Police was not a unanimous decision and that concern was raised at the time that he was heading the City’s traffic unit in an acting capacity at the time he was being considered for the higher post he now holds.!Owos-Oab said this week that he was using the time away from the office to study.He is currently a third-year, part-time student in public management at the Polytechnic of Namibia.Several City councillors are also in the dark about !Owos-Oab’s suspension.In a letter to Taapopi last month, the UDF’s Werner Claassen attempted to find out more about the suspension, saying that as the councillors who had appointed !Owos-Oab, they had the right to know more.Claassen said the state of affairs was “totally unacceptable” and could not remain secret.But Taapopi is sticking to his guns, maintaining that in accordance with Municipal Service Regulations he need only consult with the Chairperson of the Council and the Inspector General of the Namibian Police to suspend an officer pending an inquiry.Taapopi wrote to Claassen saying that subsequent consultations with the Mayor and the Police Chief had taken place since !Owos-Oab’s suspension.A despondent !Owos-Oab told The Namibian on Wednesday that he had still not been given any reasons for his suspension and had enlisted legal aid in an attempt to get more clarity on the matter.”Since then [the suspension] I have had no communique with the municipality.The unfairness in this whole thing… I think I have a right to consult a lawyer,” he said.His lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that he had written to City CEO Niilo Taapopi this week to determine the grounds for his client’s suspension.Well-placed sources within the City Police have intimated that Owos-Oab is reported to have been found incompetent in managing the City’s traffic unit despite having been permanently appointed after completing a probationary period.The Namibian understands that the council’s endorsement of Owos-Oab’s appointment to one of the top three positions within the City Police was not a unanimous decision and that concern was raised at the time that he was heading the City’s traffic unit in an acting capacity at the time he was being considered for the higher post he now holds.!Owos-Oab said this week that he was using the time away from the office to study.He is currently a third-year, part-time student in public management at the Polytechnic of Namibia.Several City councillors are also in the dark about !Owos-Oab’s suspension.In a letter to Taapopi last month, the UDF’s Werner Claassen attempted to find out more about the suspension, saying that as the councillors who had appointed !Owos-Oab, they had the right to know more.Claassen said the state of affairs was “totally unacceptable” and could not remain secret.But Taapopi is sticking to his guns, maintaining that in accordance with Municipal Service Regulations he need only consult with the Chairperson of the Council and the Inspector General of the Namibian Police to suspend an officer pending an inquiry.Taapopi wrote to Claassen saying that subsequent consultations with the Mayor and the Police Chief had taken place since !Owos-Oab’s suspension.