Unqualified but gets scarcity allowance

AN engineer-in-training who is not registered as an engineer with the Engineering Council of Namibia (ECN) was appointed as a section engineer at Windhoek City solid waste division against the rules of the profession.

The appointment in 2008 was also against the City Council’s recruitment policies which state that section engineers must only be appointed after six years of experience following their registration as professional engineers.However, the division under the management of Benjamin Amuenje appointed Analdinah Chipeio as section engineer: licensing and special projects, and paid her a ‘scarcity allowance’ of nearly N$3 500 a month. These findings are part of a damning report by audit firm Ernst and Young which the municipality’s management is trying to play down, claiming the investigations found nothing untoward at the division.The City Council’s management committee and chief executive officer Niilo Taapopi had a meeting with The Namibian last week where they promised to reveal what the municipality has done about the findings. To date no such response has been received.Chipeio received the scarcity allowance despite a salary survey indicating that the municipality’s salaries were market competitive and that engineers were not leaving because of poor salaries.The municipality’s staff regulations stipulate that a scarcity allowance should be paid only if a survey determines that the municipality salaries for such positions are not market competitive. Chipeo’s position was also not advertised as required by the City’s recruitment and selection policy. It was found that Chipeio worked at the division as a receptionist in 1990 .Another employee, Andrea Hewicke, who has a similar qualification as Chipeio and is also not registered as an engineer with ECN, was appointed as the acting head of an engineering section – landfill sites. She was at one point paid a scarcity allowance which she was made to repay, but the allowance paid to Chipeio was allowed to continue. The audit report shows that the chief of the solid waste division, Benjamin Amuenje, told auditors that Chipeio’s scarcity allowance was necessary because Enviro-Fill South Africa, another firm contracted by the City of Windhoek for the landfill site management, had an interest in her.Despite this reasoning, the auditors recommended that the municipality consider taking disciplinary action against those responsible for the appointment process.The auditors further recommend that the City take action against officials responsible for granting the scarcity allowance.Another irregularity detected at the division was the creation of a position for a ‘wellness officer’ at the division. This position was created although the same services are provided by the occupational health, safety and wellness division under the human resource department.Another questionable appointment was that of a Ms Ferreira as solid waste management control officer. The requirement for the position is a bachelor’s degree in environmental science, while Ferreira has a national diploma in commerce.’The fact the Mr Amuenje was listed as reference on Ms Ferreira’s CV and was part of the interview panel could raise a concern regarding a perceived conflict of interest with regards to Mr Amuenje’s official duty on the panel,’ the report reads.