No confidence

Irregular spending with official credit card:

Walvis Bay town council passes no confidence vote in Samson Nghilumbwa

Removed as Chairperson and member of management committee

His fate now in the hands of Urban and Rural Development Minister

PDM expresses its “revulsion” of the corrupt activities by Nghilumbwa

Floris Steenkamp

The Walvis Bay town council on Monday night during an extra-ordinary council meeting passed a vote of no confidence in Clr Samson Nghilumbwa whom is currently probed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for the abuse of a municipal credit card that was entrusted to him. Nghilumbwa was subsequently suspended both as chairperson of Council’s management committee and also as Swapo town councillor. He will not receive any Council remuneration for the duration of his suspension.

At the time of going to press yesterday afternoon the municipality of Walvis Bay was yet to issue a statement on the out-come of the council meeting of Monday evening, which cut short the immediate future of Nghilumbwa’s as local authority politician. Calls were made last week already by Swapo’s Okahenge branch (Walvis Bay Urban Constituency) that Nghilumbwa be sus-pended in order to allow for a fair and transparent investigation into the allegations.

Following Nghilumbwa’s suspension, the next order of businesses would be for the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Peya Mushelenga, to decide whether Nghilumbwa would be fired.

In the meantime, the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), as the official opposition in Council, in a media statement on Wednesday expressed the party’s “revulsion” of the corrupt activities by Nghilumbwa.

“The PDM feels that Nghilumbwa having been trusted as the chairperson of Council’s management committee and demonstrating such behaviour was deserving of an immediate suspension. That would prevent tampering with an investigation, the party agrees.

“It is our view that corruption has seriously threatened and continues to cripple our economy. Hence, we call upon the Anti-Corruption and the line Ministry (Urban and Rural Development) to launch an inquiry into this matter immediately”, it is quoted from the statement.