How Damaseb got herself suspended

Suspended Tsumeb finance manager and former acting CEO Karolina Damaseb got herself in trouble after she attempted to charge two subordinates with misconduct, which backfired and instead she was placed on forced leave.Namibian Sun has uncovered that Damaseb’s suspension from the Tsumeb municipality last July was the result of two subordinates whom she wanted disciplined, but who retaliated and opened a can of worms.Damaseb says she fails to understand why she was investigated and placed on indefinite suspension while her colleagues with misconduct charges hanging over their heads remain at work.What happened?Tsumeb acting CEO Monique Muturi explained that everything emanated when Damaseb in March 2020 attempted to implement a recommendation by the auditor-general in the 2018 audit report.Muturi said Damaseb did not implement the recommendations when she received the audit report in 2018 when she was still the acting CEO; it was only in 2020 that she surprised the council and she was informed to formulate the charges.Damaseb allegedly went ahead and the two subordinates were served with letters of misconduct two years after receiving the report.Having been given an opportunity to explain themselves, the two exposed alleged misconduct by Damaseb.“Upon receiving the grievance letters, the council saw that the allegations were serious against Damaseb and it was later decided that an investigation needed to be carried out,” Muturi said.Muturi said the council did not take the misconduct of the two into consideration, seeing that it was a 2018 matter and Damaseb should have raised it then.The Tsumeb municipality then approached a consultant, a company owned by Katima Mulilo CEO Raphael Liswaniso, to conduct the investigation.When the preliminary investigation was concluded by the consultant, it recommended that the matter be referred to the Anti-Corruption Commission for further investigation and that Damaseb be suspended in the meantime.It was on that basis that the council suspended Damaseb.She continues to get a full salary while on suspension.AgendaDamaseb claims there is an agenda against her by some people within the municipality.“It is clear that there is an agenda against me. Why am I the only one suspended and being investigated when there are people with misconduct charges who remain at work?” she said.Damaseb said her image has been tarnished by the suspension and she is becoming unemployable due to the situation.She maintains that she is innocent.Damaseb said some weeks ago, the Anti-Corruption Commision (ACC) called her in for questioning.Damaseb called on the municipality and ACC to finalise their probe.She also questioned why she was only questioned by the ACC in March, nine months after she was placed on suspension.Municipality’s financialsMuturi said Damaseb&#039;s absence has led to placed a situation where the municipality has to pay external accountants to prepare their financials, which could be costly for the local authority.She said they attempted to get assistance from the line ministry but were informed that they were short-staffed.The local authority is yet to prepare its financial books for the year 2021-2022, as well as the budget for 2022-2023.kenya@namibiansun.com

How Damaseb got herself suspended

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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How Damaseb got herself suspended

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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