By: Justicia Shipena
The Aranos Town Council operation driver who is at the centre of a controversy over his recruitment says he was asked to apply and guaranteed success.
Mario Gaoseb (25), whose employment was opposed by the AR Movement on Monday, claimed that the human resource officer and the chairperson of Aranos Town Council knew that he did not hold a Grade 10 certificate before securing the job.
The AR Movement told the media in Windhoek that his employment was irregular and should be terminated.
Aranos Town Council appointed Gaoseb on a full time basis in May 2021 after working as a casual worker from April this year.
His duties entail providing transport for various activities in the organisation earning N$7 100.
In an interview with The Villager, Gaoseb said the human resource officer Hans Baffrath and the chairperson of Aranos Town Council and Jod Albertus told him that they would ensure his success.
He also said both knew that he did not have a Grade 10 certificate.
“They came to my house and told me to apply for the position because they will let me go through. When I asked the chairperson what will the CEO say? He told me to not worry about him and that the CEO is under his feet,” explained Gaoseb.
His contract has since been terminated but Gaoseb questioned why the town council let him go if the two officials were at the forefront of getting him the job.
“They know I did not have a Grade 10 certificate but the two officials indicated to me guaranteed success through the interviews and now they want to get rid of me. That is my bread!” he stressed.
He added that the two officials also demanded a payment once Gaoseb is employed with the town council.
“Hans Baffrath and Jod Albertus told me, I will have to give them N$1 000 each once I start getting paid when I get the job,” he said.
Gaoseb submitted a testimonial letter from his former school with his application.
Jod denied visiting Gaoseb’s resident or asking for money.
“I’m already permanently employed and I don’t ask money from people to be employed,” he said.
Jod said when the council issued a letter of appointment they also requested for Gaoseb’s documentations.
“I inform him writing, Mr Gaoseb although we issue you with a letter of appointment your Grade 10 certificate is not on record. We gave him a date to submit his certificate or his appointment disqualified,” said Jod.
The principal of Rooiduin Senior Secondary School who could only be identified as Tjerivanga, who issued the testimonial letter said he issued a testimonial letter for Gaoseb on the day the school was going on a break and only did a system check after school had resumed.
“Once the school opened, we checked in our system and this is when we discovered that Gaoseb did not obtain a Grade 10 certificate,” he said.
After the discovery, Tjerivanga said he wrote a letter to the CEO of the town council, Ronald Windswaai to inform them about the discovery.
Tjerivanga asked how the council appointed someone who has a missing document.
“The normal procedure is that if a person is lacking one or two documents, that person is not appointed and is automatically disqualified.”
When asked about why the council only did a background check after the appointment of Gaoseb, Windswaai said Gaoseb was appointed based on the information he submitted on his CV and testimonials attached.
“There was even a letter from the principal of the school claiming that he completed his Grade 10. However, as it is normal practice at any institution we still conduct background checks even after a candidate has been appointed,” he said.
Windswaai said a fair request was submitted to the candidate to submit his original certificate, which failed to do so.
“There are cases that people have worked at institutions for years without being suspected that they have the correct qualifications, hence the period of probation that was imposed also,” he explained.
Windswaai further said he was not aware of the agreement his officials and the applicant had.
“I only came to read about the allegations in the letter that the applicant wrote to the Council. That prompted the Council in deciding that the matter should be investigated by the ACC,” he said.
Speaking to the media in Windhoek, Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Activist Rodrecus Matesu said the termination of Gaoseb’s contact only came after other candidates contesting for the same position started question the council.
“One candidate went further to and requested for the interview minutes which resulted in a fist fight between the candidate and CEO,” he said.
In this vein, AR called on for the re-advertisement of the position as they don’t trust the council with the decision taken on picking the second-bestcandidate.
“We are also aware that some councillors have personal issues with some of the candidates who were part of the interview thus we don’t trust the decision,” said Matesu.
Matesu demanded the council to publicly respond to all the allegations as well as for the HR officer to explain how the short listing was done.
“We also demand that the appointing authority withdraw the duties of the second-best candidate who has been appointed,” he said.
