Roads Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Conrad Lutombi will only assume his new role as the City of Windhoek CEO when the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, has approved his appointment.
The capital city has been operating without a substantial CEO since November 2020 following the resignation of Robert Kahimise who joined CENORED.
City of Windhoek Mayor Sade Gawanas said the Local Authorities Act requires Minister Uutoni to approve any appointments to the CEO position.
“As a next step and in accordance with Regulation 28 (3) of the Recruitment and Selection Regulations for Local Authority Councils: Local Authorities Act and Section 27(1) of the Local Authority Act, 1992 (act 23 of 1992) a written submission shall be made to the Minister of Urban and Rural Development for consideration and endorsement,” she said on Wednesday.
“One wouldn’t want to speculate at this stage as we still await feedback from the Honourable Minister. The successful candidate would undoubtedly also need to serve notice with his current employer which is determined by his contract and conditions of employment which we are not privy to, however, we look forward and are confident that the CEO will be appointed soon,” Gawanas said.
The municipality will, however, still need to make a formal offer to Lutombi after having satisfied the requirements of the Local Authorities Act by seeking approval from Uutoni, the outcome of which will be determined by the candidate, to accept the offer or not.
CoW spokesperson Harold Akwenye told The Brief that only the Minister has the final powers to approve the appointment of a substantive CEO.
“The onus is with the Minister. After the Minister approves, we take an offer to him (Lutombi) and if he accepts, then he will go for medicals and he starts. He will also have to give notice on his side,” Akwenye explained.
The Windhoek City Council unanimously endorsed Lutombi as its next CEO at the beginning of this month.
