The Bank of Namibia (BoN) has seconded its Exchange Control and Legal Services Director, Bryan Eiseb, to the Ministry of Mines and Energy to act as the Ministry’s Executive Director for a period of seven months.
Eiseb — who is also the Chairperson of the Namib Desert Diamonds (NAMDIA) and the Namibia Institute of Pathology — replaces Simeon Negumbo, who is going into retirement.
The secondment comes as Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo recently revealed that the recent allegation of the N$50 million bribe paid to some officials in the Ministry to award an exploration licence to a certain company, had inappropriately shed light on a potential weakness in how exploration licence applications are evaluated and eventually awarded or declined by the Ministry.
Other changes at the Ministry include when Alweendo in October appointed Isabella Chirchir as Mining Commissioner.
She replaced Erasmus Shivolo who served in two roles as Mining Deputy Executive Director and Commissioner in the same Ministry. Shivolo had been Mining Commissioner from 2008 until this year October.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy is a key ministry tasked with the custodianship of the country’s mineral and energy resources.
