EDITORIAL: Reining in endless suspensions

One of the most wasteful practices in Namibia's public sector has been the tendency to suspend officials for extended periods on full pay while disciplinary processes drag on with no apparent urgency.

It is a culture that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars and undermined confidence in public administration.

It is therefore encouraging to see ministers beginning to question this long-standing practice.

Recently, urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa directed the Otjiwarongo municipality to reinstate its manager of technical services, who had spent one year and 10 months on suspension. In May, works and transport minister Veikko Nekundi instructed TransNamib to reinstate two suspended executives.

Suspension was never intended to become a form of paid leave. It is meant to be a temporary administrative measure that allows investigations or disciplinary proceedings to take place without interference. When those proceedings stretch into years, the process ceases to serve justice. Instead, it rewards administrative inefficiency while placing an unnecessary burden on the public purse.

No employer should take two years to determine whether an employee is guilty of misconduct.

That said, the recent ministerial directives raise legitimate questions about governance and due process. Do ministers possess the legal authority to order the reinstatement of suspended officials in entities with their own boards, councils or administrative leadership? If they do, under what statutory provisions? If they do not, what precedent is being created?

These questions matter because good governance depends not only on reaching the right outcome but also on following the correct process.

Whenever a minister intervenes in an individual disciplinary matter, the public is entitled to ask whether the decision was based solely on principle or whether other considerations may have influenced it. 

The solution lies neither in endless suspensions nor in executive intervention that sidesteps institutional processes.