ECB presses NamPower on executive’s Cenored exit

The Electricity Control Board (ECB) is demanding answers from NamPower after the utility failed to report back on the implementation of a board decision requiring senior executive Kandali Iyambo to resign from the Cenored board.

The board resolution in question found that Iyambo's dual role as NamPower's modified single buyer (MSB) executive in addition to her role as a board chairperson at Cenored presented a conflict of interest.

In a letter to NamPower dated 22 July, seen by Namibian Sun, ECB CEO Robert Kahimise said the utility had undertaken to report back on the resolution.

“At the meeting held between the ECB and the NamPower Board on 3 December 2025, the NamPower board undertook to revert to the ECB on one of the technical MSB audit findings, namely that the 'MSB executive's dual role at Cenored presents a significant conflict of interest, with potential implications for market impartiality and stakeholder confidence,’” Kahimise wrote.

The electricity regulator said NamPower had informed it that the board had already taken a decision on the matter.

“In its letter dated 20 February 2026, the NamPower board confirmed that it had resolved that no employee of the modified single buyer unit, as the market operator, should serve on the boards of contestable customers and that Ms Iyambo therefore needs to resign from the Cenored board,” he wrote.

Kahimise added that NamPower had also committed to reporting back once the resignation process had been completed.

“The ECB is therefore following up on the progress made in implementing the board resolution on this matter,” Kahimise said.

Resignation instruction

In March, Namibian Sun reported on the potential conflict of interest issue, which dates back to an MSB audit conducted in late 2025. The audit identified what was described as a conflict arising from Iyambo's dual role as both NamPower's MSB executive and Cenored board chairperson.

The audit recommended that NamPower take immediate steps to rectify the matter.

The power utility subsequently commissioned an external legal opinion from ENS Africa, which concluded that the arrangement constituted “a material and persistent potential conflict of interest” because the MSB office exercises operational discretion over contestable customers, including Cenored.

Acting on that opinion, the board resolved that no employee of the modified single buyer unit should serve on the board of a contestable customer.

In a letter dated 24 March, NamPower managing director Kahenge Simson Haulofu instructed Iyambo to resign as a Cenored board member with effect from 1 April.

Explanation sought

In a telephone interview with Namibian Sun on Friday last week, Iyambo questioned why the same governance principles are allegedly not being applied to her predecessors and other NamPower representatives serving on the same boards.

“I respectfully request clarity on the basis upon which my appointment is considered to present a conflict of interest," she said.

“My understanding is that previous holders of my position served concurrently on the boards of Cenored and NamPower, and that several current directors serving on RED boards are NamPower representatives,” Iyambo added.

She said NamPower should explain the legal, policy or governance basis for that distinction.

“Consistent application of governance principles is essential to ensure fairness and avoid the perception of selective enforcement,” she said.

Iyambo oversees the implementation of the Angola-Namibia Transmission Interconnector (ANNA) Project, a strategic cross-border electricity project expected to allow Namibia to import up to 300 megawatts of electricity from Angola.

Cabinet approved the project as strategic national infrastructure in February.

Questions sent to NamPower were not answered by the time of publication.