Troubles at Tses

SWAPO members at Tses staged a demonstration on Monday to protest against the procedures followed by the Village Council to recruit a new village secretary for the settlement.

The local Swapo branch, led by its Secretary Petrus Thomas Witbooi, alleged favouritism and accused Council of “rushing” with the appointment. The disgruntled supporters have alleged that current Council members wanted to plant someone who would be able to cover up alleged mismanagement in case they were not re-elected in tomorrow’s Local Authority elections.Witbooi handed over a petition on behalf of the Swapo members to the acting Village Secretary Ivan Vries.The supporters from the Anton Katamila Swapo branch said four people were interviewed and three names short-listed, but the name of the best candidate among the four was excluded from the final three.Witbooi claimed that the person that was left out was clear by 22 marks from the nearest competitor for the job.The chairperson of the Tses Village Council, Anna Phillander, denied any irregularities.She said the candidates were interviewed by people from the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and the Keetmanshoop Municipality and that the recommendations were forwarded to Windhoek for approval by Minister Joel Kaapanda.”No one has yet been appointed.We are still waiting to hear from the line Ministry, ” Phillander said.She claimed that the demonstration was politically motivated and was not in the interest of the Tses community.”This is pure election campaign tactics that Swapo is busy with to mobilise more supporters for the upcoming election,” she said.At present the Tses Village Council is dominated by DTA councillors.The disgruntled supporters have alleged that current Council members wanted to plant someone who would be able to cover up alleged mismanagement in case they were not re-elected in tomorrow’s Local Authority elections.Witbooi handed over a petition on behalf of the Swapo members to the acting Village Secretary Ivan Vries.The supporters from the Anton Katamila Swapo branch said four people were interviewed and three names short-listed, but the name of the best candidate among the four was excluded from the final three.Witbooi claimed that the person that was left out was clear by 22 marks from the nearest competitor for the job.The chairperson of the Tses Village Council, Anna Phillander, denied any irregularities.She said the candidates were interviewed by people from the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and the Keetmanshoop Municipality and that the recommendations were forwarded to Windhoek for approval by Minister Joel Kaapanda.”No one has yet been appointed.We are still waiting to hear from the line Ministry, ” Phillander said.She claimed that the demonstration was politically motivated and was not in the interest of the Tses community.”This is pure election campaign tactics that Swapo is busy with to mobilise more supporters for the upcoming election,” she said.At present the Tses Village Council is dominated by DTA councillors.