WALVIS BAY – Former Walvis Bay municipal councillor Romeo Goseb says the tabling of an urgent motion by the newly-elected chairperson of the management committee, Leroy Victor, during a special council meeting on Monday evening, was procedurally wrong.
Victor, who sits on the council on an Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) ticket, tabled an urgent motion in which he instructed CEO Muronga Haingura to engage specialised services to conduct a forensic audit over the missing or wrongly audited N$24 million from the municipality.
Victor tabled the motion immediately after the swearing-in ceremony of new councillors.
“These auditors should be appointed by latest Friday and given until 15 December to finalise it. The CEO must also arrange a special meeting no later than 18 December and the meeting must be opened to the public and the media,” Victor said.
The funds in question are reportedly missing from the municipality coffers and was part of the funds generated through the selling of homes built at Walvis Bay.
A case against the municipality was registered recently by the Affirmative Repositioning as well as the former Walvis Bay Urban constituency councillor Knowledge Ipinge.
However, Goseb, who served for years as the United Democratic Front councillor before he resigned and joined the Landless People’s Movement earlier this year, says there was an agenda for Monday’s meeting.
“It was just the swearing-in ceremony; hence, no one should have been allowed to table a motion, as it was not why the meeting was called, ”Goseb said.
He added that the new mayor – if he knew the correct procedures – should have objected the motion from being tabled.
“In fact, the CEO has explained to them that it was not the right way but should have followed the correct procedures,” Goseb said.
Explaining the process, Goseb said councillors usually get their agenda on a Friday to prepare for a council meeting well in advance before it takes place the next Tuesday.
“You get a slot on the agenda, which makes provision for you to send a notice 72 hours prior to the council meeting that you will be tabling a motion. You should also make sure that it is delivered to the CEO so that he can inform the house well in advance that you will table a motion. That is the right procedure,” Goseb said. In terms of the request for an internal audit, Goseb said the process is guided by procurement regulations that allows for the process to be done internally up to a certain amount.
He believes the concern is genuine, but there are regulations under which councillors operate.
According to Goseb, the new councillors will soon also get an induction course, as it is the usual norm once elected, in order to understand the duties of local authority and council .
“Total and upmost comprehension of the Local Authority Act is needed among all newly elected members, as there are things that cannot be done on local authority level. They should grasp that they report to the line ministry and not to their political parties,” he said.
- edeklerk@nepc.com.na