Back in the seat

Councillor Alderman Immanuel Wilfried has been re-elected the mayor of Walvis Bay for the next term during an extraordinary council meeting on 12 December. Councillor Penelope Martin was re-elected as Deputy Mayor.
In a move that further anger both the Walvis Bay public, senior Swapo members at the coast and also municipal officials, Clr Samson Nghilumbwa was also re-elected into the Management Committee, only weeks after his suspension for the alleged abuse of a municipal credit card to the tune of more than N$80 000 expired.
Nghilumbwa was the Chairperson of the Management Committee before a municipal whistle blower exposed his alleged abuse of the official credit card some weeks ago. Nghilumbwa was suspended by Council, but his suspension expired after thirty days. He return to Council, as to date no decision is yet available as to whether the Minister of Urban and Rural Development would suspend him pending an out-come of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on the matter.
Other Councillors re-elected into the Management Committee were Cllrs Lilo Niilenge as the Chairperson, Paulus Kauhondamwa, Saara Shailemo and Hilka Erastus as alternate member.
Other council members are Cllrs. Tobias Nambala, Gibson Goseb and Valencia Izaacks.
In his acceptance speech Mayor Wilfried thanked those who made it possible for him to serve for his fourth term as Mayor. His vote of thanks included municipal officials who support his endeavour and the Swapo Party’s confidence in him.
Mayor Wilfried called upon all residents of Walvis Bay to stand united for a better administration of the harbour town.
He also urged members of the public to avoid cynicism by advocating everything was better pre-1994 [re-integration of Walvis Bay as Namibian territory was on 1 March 1994].
Clr Wilfried admitted even before 1994 some Councils did outstanding for Walvis Bay’s management, but explained after 1996 the six mayors that preceded him also did an exemplary job. Unfortunately, the pre-1994 Councils’ work were only reserved for a minority.
∙The Walvis Bay municipal council will be on recess as from Friday (21 December to Monday 28 January 2019.