Irene !Hoaës
7 October 2008
Windhoek — The Governor of the Omaheke Region, Laura McLeod-Katjirua, has confirmed receipt of the Witvlei residents' petition from the mayor of the village, Pio Nganate.
However, she stated that it was unprocedural for her to receive the petition while she has a representative in the Steinhausen constituency under which the village of Witvlei falls.
"I don't know, the petition is not even directed to me, maybe the residents requested the mayor verbally to give the petition to me," she stated.
The Witvlei community took to the streets last month demanding the removal of its mayor, chief executive officer and administrative staff over what they termed "corruption, fraudulent and unauthorised actions", within the village council.
The governor forwarded the petition to the Steinhausen constituency councillor and Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Kilus Nguvauva.
The petition is with Nguvauva and after studying the document he will have to report to the Omaheke Regional Council, in accordance with procedures.
McLeod-Katjirua said she only became aware that the petition was meant to be delivered to her through the media.
"I had to approach him (Nganate) and ask him about the petition, since he said in the newspaper that he would forward the petition to me," added the governor.
McLeod-Katjirua said after she approached Nganate about the petition, it took a few days before he delivered the document.
"I don't know where that comes from. There is no way I can work like that, it is very unprofessional," she stated.
Nganate told New Era that the community did not ask him to give the petition to any specific person but he only felt that for transparency's sake he would also forward it to the governor, as well as the constituency councillor.
Nganate earlier said he did not have time to deliver the document to the governor.
Accusations were mostly hurled against the council chairperson and Mayor of Witvlei, Nganate, and its chief executive officer, Katjivene.
Accusations varied from tenders awarded to the mayor, huge amounts of subsistence and travel allowances for the mayor, donor funds diverted to private projects, which the community claimed were meant for community projects, very high prices for houses at the village, faulty equipment bought at an auction costing council a lot of money, as it cannot be returned as well as an office building bought from the Swapo Party at a cost of N$30000 for a HIV/AIDS project.
In defence, Nganate and his administrative staff said most of the accusations against them are false, as the Namibia Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC) councillor leading the demonstrators does not understand the workings of the village council. They also said the accusations are politically motivated.
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