GOBABIS: The Gobabis Municipality’s management committee is currently without a chairperson due to internal conflicts within the coalition formed by the opposition parties.
After two unsuccessful attempts to elect a chairperson, the position remains vacant.
The coalition comprises four parties – the Gobabis Residents’ Association, represented by Isaak de Beer; the Landless People’s Movement, represented by councillor Sylvester Binga; the National Unity Democratic Organisation, represented by councillor Elvira Theron; and the Popular Democratic Movement, represented by Melba Tjozongoro.
In the recent council election, Tjozongoro was re-elected as the mayor, while De Beer, Binga and Theron retained their membership in the management committee.
When the committee convened to elect a chairperson, councillor De Beer was nominated for the position by Theron. However, there was no secondment from Binga for this nomination, raising questions about the coalition agreement.
Speaking to Nampa on Tuesday, De Beer sa
id he was left disillusioned and confused by Binga’s actions.
‘We are working according to the coalition agreement signed by the four organisations, thus the question is, why is Binga refusing to leave the position since he has been there since 2021? Is he protecting something, or what makes him believe I do not qualify?’ he asked.
De Beer stated that despite two attempts to resolve the issue, Binga was unwilling to step down from the position.
He accused Tjozongoro of favouring Binga for the chairperson role.
When contacted for comment, Tjozongoro however declined to speak on the matter.
‘I do not want to comment on this issue; we sent a letter to the minister and we are waiting for the response,’ Tjozongoro said.
Binga referred this news agency to Chief Executive Officer Sophia Eises who said information from council meetings is confidential. She confirmed that despite two attempts to nominate the chairperson, no nomination was made.
She further said councillors are on recess and the process of elect
ing the chairperson will be revisited next year.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency