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Battle of the Opposition Councillors at City of Windhoek

By: Justicia Shipena

The circus at the City of Windhoek took a new twist this week after the Affirmative Repositioning movement councillor Ilse Keister moved a vote of no confidence in the management committee.

The motion dated 12 July 2022 and signed by Keister states that the current management committee has performed poorly and does not inspire confidence in both council and the residents.

Keister said her vote of no confidence was motivated by the management committee that deliberately ignores resolutions, and when councillors request answers, there is hardly any answer.

“As a result of this by the management committee, the residents remain despondent and form an impression that council is unable to execute its duties,” Keister argues.

According to Keister, 99 per cent of the current management committee is dominated by members from the same political party, and the members have not shown the ability to lead coherently and objectively.

IPC’s Ndeshihafela Larandja leads the management committee, while three IPC councillors – Jürgen Hecht, Bernardus Araeb, and Ottilie Saarty Uukule, and LPM’s Ivan Skrywer, make up the rest of the unit.

“The majority of members of the management committee have allowed the directives from external individuals to dominate the affairs and brings no independent and objective minds beyond what they are told,” she charged,

Keister pointed out that 99 per cent of the management committee members are under restrictions on how they will preside over specific matters.

She was referring to the IPC that ordered that none of its councillors should take unnecessary trips.

The Affirmative Repositioning movement and the PDM refused to be part of the current coalition at the City of Windhoek and left IPC and LPM to take leading roles.

In a letter dated 1 December 2021, signed by AR leader Job Amupanda and PDM president McHenry Venaani, the two said they had chosen to remain on the opposition benches to deliver their sacred mandate on behalf of the residents of the city Collectively.

Keister also said that the recent conduct of the management committee has shown that it cannot be trusted to act objectively and fairly in exercising its powers.

“This has led to the demonstration by employees with regards to favouritism.

“Council has also received letters of demand by the union, Napwu, because of this favouritism,” she said.

According to Keister, to restore this terrible labour situation, the council was forced to put all industrial relations matters in abeyance to get to the bottom of the matter.

Keister said this further resulted in a terrible state of affairs where these matters were delayed.

She further said, in the motion that would be read on 28 July 2022, a new management committee must be elected t ensure that council resolutions are implemented as envisaged by section 26 of the Act and to restore the trust and confidence of the residents.

 

AR DISTANCES FROM NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE

Meanwhile, the head of elections at AR, Paulus Paulus Kathanga, says that the AR movement has not sanctioned any vote of no confidence in the City of Windhoek.

“Nor have we resolved on participating in any vote of no confidence agenda,” he said.

According to him, the city’s leadership is dependent on the collective of all councillors, adding that failure to work together will only result in the suffering of the residents of Windhoek.

In this vein, he added that if an individual from AR is involved in the confidence vote, it is “maybe in her capacity.”

“Our two deployees are there at CoW on the movement ticket. So, whatever they do must be a plan to satisfy or benefit the electorate, not just this cheap politics to please and run individual programs,” he said.

However, in his capacity, he stressed that he had lost confidence in the city’s entire council.

“The AR fight is about land, not who will be the next CEO. Anything that has nothing to do with service delivery, I’m not supporting. I’m very clear on that.”

AR spokesperson Simon Amunime says he has seen Keister’s vote of no confidence reported via Eagle FM’s social media, adding that AR has not sanctioned any vote of no confidence in the city’s leadership.

“Perhaps that is an individual decision of Cllr Ilse Keister,” he said.

Amunime stressed that if Keister is interested in tabling a vote of no confidence, she should not use the movement’s name.

“We are not consulted on that particular issue, and Keister must not bring the organisation’s name into disrepute. She must not use the Affirmative Repositioning movement name to fight her own personal battles in the city. We have not authorised nor sanctioned her.”

He also said should it be found that Keister submitted the vote, AR will hold her accountable.

“We are not going to tolerate such behaviour from someone like Keister. She has been quiet all year, but how does she get involved in scrambles that have nothing to do with the AR movement,” Amunime lamented.

However, he aired that the movement was disappointed by the state of the City of Windhoek.

“No service delivery and no land is being given, and it is just politicians fighting like kids in kindergarten. We condone the infighting and call for the leadership to come to their senses and work together. If they are not prepared to serve the residents collectively, they can pack their bags and go home, exclusive of our two representatives.”

 

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE STRUCTURE SETUP NOT WORKING

IPC spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge argues that the management committee is an organ of parliament and cannot be wished away.

“It is a structure that must be there. You can’t wish it away. Good luck to them if they want to wish it away,” said Nashinge.

Speaking to The Villager on Wednesday, LPM’s Skrywer says he has not seen the justification for the motion by Keister, emphasising that it is nothing new and she (Keister) has exercised her right.

“It is a normal practice just like any councillor tabling a motion,” he said.

On the claims that the committee has failed in its duties, Skrywer said the committee should behave like a council sub-committee.

He said there is a general feeling regarding favouritism, reiterating that when there is a council that nobody has the majority of, one would think all views would be inclusive.

However, he expressed that the setup of the MC is not working for the committee and residents of Windhoek.

“Because of the way it is. Even if that is not the case, when others look at it, they assume that is the case because of the setup and should not be like that. It should have representation of all. It brings us chaos because there is so much mistrust and so much everything. The setup in its current form is just not working,” he explains.

Skrywer further noted that coalitions are not permanent marriages. The LPM councillor joined the management committee in early December last year after the AR, Nudo and PDM’s coalition with IPC fell apart.

This, according to him, is subjected to be reviewed from time to time. “They should be reviewed to see if it worked in the interest of the residents. This idea is that coalitions are forever; even if they are not working, just because I like you and you like me, it will not work.”

When The Villager approached chairperson of the management committee, Larandja, she said she was unaware of the vote.

“I am not aware of that thing. I am just hearing it from the media.”

Meanwhile, Venaani has come out to say that he has not seen the content of such a vote.

Justicia Shipena

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