Windhoek narrowly escapes Sankwasa’s axe as minister criticises councillors’ poor performance

Minister of urban and rural development James Sankwasa says if the City of Windhoek’s current councillors had a year left in office, he would have dismissed them due to poor performance.

This comes after the minister fired the entire Katima Mulilo Town Council on Monday.

Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Sankwasa accused the capital’s councillors of lacking direction, being embroiled in political infighting, and failing to serve the interests of residents.

He held a six-hour meeting with the city’s councillors on Monday during which he reprimanded them for “poor performance”.

“I said if they still had one year left in office, I would have fired the council due to poor performance, because that is valid grounds for dismissal,” the minister said.

Windhoek mayor Ndeshihafela Larandja could not be reached for comment yesterday despite several calls and messages.

Sankwasa said the City of Windhoek has become “rudderless” under the current council, with councillors more committed to their political parties than to residents’ needs.

“There is no unity,” he said.

“The City of Windhoek has no direction while councillors are fighting. That is what prompted me to say that if they had a year before their term ends, I would have fired them. The residents are suffering,” he said.

“Some councillors are decisive, and I was impressed. But some do not even know why they are there.”

Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah says: “Underperformance, incompetence, and negligence have plagued local governance. The minister is trying to fix that.”

However, he warns that Sankwasa’s unilateral approach could be problematic.

“You cannot simply override the will of the people,” he says.

Kamwanyah also questioned the lack of public explanation in the Katima Mulilo case.

“If the matter goes to court, the government could be held financially liable,” he says.

The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) condemns Sankwasa’s actions at Katima Mulilo, labelling it as unlawful and undemocratic.

“This authoritarian move flagrantly disregards the principles of democratic governance enshrined in our nation’s founding document,” the IPC says in a statement.

“Namibia is not a dictatorship, elected leaders cannot be ousted without due process,” the party says. The party says if the council’s conduct was unlawful or corrupt, the appropriate course of action would have been to invoke Section 43 of the Anti-Corruption Act.

Swanu parliamentarian Evilastus Kaaronda, however, says the minister should have gone ahead and dismissed Windhoek’s councillors.

“These guys have had all this time to do one basic thing, to serve the people, and they spent most of their time grandstanding, fighting each other, and pursuing their interests.”

Meanwhile, confusion continues to surround Sankwasa’s decision to dissolve the Katima Mulilo Town Council.

Chief executive Raphael Liswaniso yesterday said there has been no official communication regarding the dismissal.

“I will therefore not comment ..,” he told The Namibian.

Despite the lack of formal notification, National Democratic Party (NDP) president Martin Lukato has supported the minister’s decision, saying Sankwasa acted “100% correctly” in line with Namibian law.

However, Lukato yesterday expressed concern that the decision unfairly affected innocent councillors, including his party’s representative, Simasiku Mukendwa.

“The NDP councillor, my councillor, has been caught up in this. While he is a free man, he was not part of the corruption scandal,” Lukato said.

Lukato also dismissed allegations that the move was tribally motivated.

“Those accusing the minister of tribalism are tribalists themselves,” he said.

Last Friday, Sankwasa demanded answers from Stampriet Village Council over its failure to fill the vacant chief executive officer position for four years.

In June this year, he also demanded that former Omuthiya mayor Johannes Ndeutepo pay back the money he was paid as a councillor at Omuthiya while he was fully employed in Windhoek.

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