Sankwasa urges councils to fix CEO gaps
Dozens remain leaderless
Urban and rural development Sankwasa James Sankwasa has urged councils to act swiftly on the growing number of local authorities operating without CEOs.
“Last year was a year for election. There are certain things that you keep in abeyance until the right time," he said on Monday.
"And it’s even right that if 16 local authorities until now don’t have CEOs, then the current local authority would appoint their own CEOs,” Sankwasa told Namibian Sun during a media engagement in Rundu.
The comments highlight a leadership vacuum that has persisted across municipalities and town councils, hindering governance and service delivery.
The Local Authorities Act of 1992 places CEOs at the centre of municipal operations, tasked with implementing council decisions, managing staff and ensuring administrative continuity, yet many councils have been operating without substantive leaders for months, and in some cases years.
Leadership vacuums
In towns such as Groofontein and Henties Bay, substantive CEOs have been absent for extended periods, with acting appointments and prolonged disciplinary processes delaying permanent appointments.
In Henties Bay, for example, former CEO Elizabeth Coetzee was suspended in late 2023 and remained off the job for nearly two years without resolution before her contract expired in July 2025.
The prolonged suspension triggered public outcry and legal threats.
In a Namibian Sun report last year, the ministry directed Nkurenkuru Town Council to halt its recruitment process for a new CEO until further notice. The decision, confirmed by town council spokesperson Saara Muushongo, followed the move of former CEO Petrus Sindimba to the ministry.
Sindimba, who officially assumed his new role at the ministry last week, was Nkurenkuru’s founding CEO and served in that capacity for 18 years, overseeing the town’s growth and administrative development since its proclamation in 2006.
The decision to suspend the recruitment process was reportedly linked to the upcoming regional and local authority elections scheduled for 26 November.
Get house in order
Sankwasa pointed to past practices where CEO appointments were influenced by political connections rather than merit. “Previously, with the previous councils, CEOs were being appointed on the line of politics, political affiliation,” he said. “So I’ve seen situations where people perform very well in interviews, but because they don’t belong to the party that is in charge of that local authority, they’re not appointed.”
The leadership crisis has played out amid wider tensions between the ministry and local councils. In Katima Mulilo, Sankwasa dissolved the town council in August 2025 after it failed to implement ministerial directives.
The decision laid bare simmering governance struggles at the municipal level and plunged the community into uncertainty about administrative leadership.
For Sankwasa, the window for inaction has closed. He said that following councillor inductions and training, councils should know what is expected of them: appoint CEOs, enforce governance standards and protect residents’ interests. “When they take about three, four, five months after the training, then something is wrong,” he told Namibian Sun.
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“Last year was a year for election. There are certain things that you keep in abeyance until the right time," he said on Monday.
"And it’s even right that if 16 local authorities until now don’t have CEOs, then the current local authority would appoint their own CEOs,” Sankwasa told Namibian Sun during a media engagement in Rundu.
The comments highlight a leadership vacuum that has persisted across municipalities and town councils, hindering governance and service delivery.
The Local Authorities Act of 1992 places CEOs at the centre of municipal operations, tasked with implementing council decisions, managing staff and ensuring administrative continuity, yet many councils have been operating without substantive leaders for months, and in some cases years.
Leadership vacuums
In towns such as Groofontein and Henties Bay, substantive CEOs have been absent for extended periods, with acting appointments and prolonged disciplinary processes delaying permanent appointments.
In Henties Bay, for example, former CEO Elizabeth Coetzee was suspended in late 2023 and remained off the job for nearly two years without resolution before her contract expired in July 2025.
The prolonged suspension triggered public outcry and legal threats.
In a Namibian Sun report last year, the ministry directed Nkurenkuru Town Council to halt its recruitment process for a new CEO until further notice. The decision, confirmed by town council spokesperson Saara Muushongo, followed the move of former CEO Petrus Sindimba to the ministry.
Sindimba, who officially assumed his new role at the ministry last week, was Nkurenkuru’s founding CEO and served in that capacity for 18 years, overseeing the town’s growth and administrative development since its proclamation in 2006.
The decision to suspend the recruitment process was reportedly linked to the upcoming regional and local authority elections scheduled for 26 November.
Get house in order
Sankwasa pointed to past practices where CEO appointments were influenced by political connections rather than merit. “Previously, with the previous councils, CEOs were being appointed on the line of politics, political affiliation,” he said. “So I’ve seen situations where people perform very well in interviews, but because they don’t belong to the party that is in charge of that local authority, they’re not appointed.”
The leadership crisis has played out amid wider tensions between the ministry and local councils. In Katima Mulilo, Sankwasa dissolved the town council in August 2025 after it failed to implement ministerial directives.
The decision laid bare simmering governance struggles at the municipal level and plunged the community into uncertainty about administrative leadership.
For Sankwasa, the window for inaction has closed. He said that following councillor inductions and training, councils should know what is expected of them: appoint CEOs, enforce governance standards and protect residents’ interests. “When they take about three, four, five months after the training, then something is wrong,” he told Namibian Sun.
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