Sankwasa rejects Rundu CEO contract extension

The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sankwasa James Sankwasa, has rejected a request by the Rundu Town Council to extend the contract of its Chief Executive Officer, citing poor performance, financial mismanagement, and governance failures.

In a strongly worded letter seen by Namibian Sun dated 14 March 2026 and addressed to Rundu Mayor Andreas Jikerwa, Sankwasa reaffirmed an earlier decision made in October 2025 that there was no justification to retain the current CEO, Olavi Nataniel.

“The Chief Executive Officer has a record of extreme poor work performance, and there is no justification for the extension,” Sankwasa wrote.

He pointed to what he described as a pattern of inaction in addressing critical service delivery challenges, noting that during a visit to Rundu in January 2026, there were “issues related to none taking of proactive action by the Chief Executive Officer regarding the road infrastructure and sanitation systems”.

Sankwasa also highlighted a June 2025 inspection of the Ngwangwa Bridge, a project sponsored by his company in 2023 and handed over to the council in 2024.

“The bridge was uncared for and rails were found broken, and the CEO had never visited the site during the construction and usage of such a facility since the handover,” he stated.

A major concern outlined in the letter is the council’s escalating debt, particularly a reported N$254 million owed for water services.

According to Sankwasa no alternative payment arrangements were made to settle the bill in addition to the outstanding electricity debt owed to NamPower.

Chaotic financial management

The minister further raised longstanding governance issues, pointing to adverse findings by the Auditor General for the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 financial years, and noting that the council “has never been audited since 2017/2018 to 2023/2024, including the 2024/2025 financial years.”

He described this as evidence of a “chaotic financial management situation by the Council under the supervision of the current CEO and former Local Authority Councillors”.

Beyond performance and financial concerns, Sankwasa also cited procedural lapses under the Local Authorities Act, emphasizing that “it was incumbent upon the CEO to act in terms of section 27(3)(b)(iii) of the Local Authorities Act if the council failed to inform him of the non-renewal of his contract.”

He maintained that his decision is final.

“I disapproved and still disapprove the request of the Rundu Town Council to extend the employment contract of Mr Olavi Nataniel, the CEO,” he wrote, stressing that the council must now comply with his directive.

Sankwasa instructed the council to advertise the position of CEO, writing: “The Council is further directed to advertise the vacant position of the CEO. I hope you will find this order and execute as directed.”

Rundu Mayor Andreas Jikerwa confirmed the directive from the minister but said the council has collectively decided on the way forward and would announce this decision in due course.

“I will inform you of this collective decision next week,” he said.