Staff turnover is rife at the Gibeon Village Council, which has lost five employees between February and July this year, sparking claims of a leadership crisis at the Hardap region local authority.
Accountant Monica Jonas-Silas and cashier Stanley Smith are said to have resigned in February this year. After them went William Afrikaner, an assistant accountant, and Samuel Kharigub, an artisan foreman, in July. Human resource practitioner Florian Winstaan allegedly resigned with immediate effect on 25 July.
A source, who pleaded for anonymity, told The Namibian that such resignations always throw the already short-staffed local authority into disarray, an effect that usually trickles down to community members.
“It goes without saying that these top-level resignations have an impact on the residents, because we are talking about specialised positions that would otherwise require an effective handover process,” the source said.
“Add all these to the fact that we do not have a substantive chief executive officer yet, as the current one is in an acting position,” the source added.
This assertion is corroborated by a National Council report, which was compiled by Lucas Sinimbo Muha, chairperson of the National Council, following an outreach visit to Gibeon, where he met representatives of the Witbooi, Bondelswarts and Afrikaner traditional authorities and the community of Gibeon.
While the community registered concerns about a high rate of unemployment and the alleged lack of consultation between local authority councillors and the community, they also brought up the issue of the vacant CEO position.
Acting CEO Penderious Tjihoreko confirmed there is a high staff turnover at the Gibeon Village Council.
“I can confirm that I have had five major resignations since February this year,” Tjihoreko said.
Asked what could be the cause of the resignations, Tjihoreko said: “Looking at their resignation letters, the accountant left for greener pastures and a higher salary. The assistant accountant cited health issues as the reason for departure. Also citing health issues was the artisan foreman. While the HR officer did not give any reasons.”
Tjihoreko acknowledged that the high rate of resignations adres affects the operations of the village council, in that the entity is constantly losing experienced people who have served the administration and who are well versed in its operations.
However, Tjihoreko said, the council has already filled the positions with remaining members of staff, in acting capacities.
“Our operations will never come to a standstill,” Tjihoreko said.
He added that the administration is planning to call a meeting with the community of Gibeon to clear all allegations and assure them that service delivery will not be affected.
The CEO maintained that he is not aware of any infighting or squabbles between village councillors, adding that the three members from the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) and their two counterparts from Swapo work in cohesion for the betterment of Gibeon.
“We are all working together to ensure that Gibeon is developed. The town has plenty of potential.”
Leave a Reply