The Otjiwarongo local authority councillor who was found guilty and sentenced on a corruption charge in July this year, has resigned from her position at the municipal council.

Hilde Noreses, 47, resigned on Wednesday and informed the Swapo Party leadership that she was no longer interested in serving as a councillor of the Otjiwarongo Municipality.

Swapo Party coordinator in the Otjozondjupa Region, Susan Hikopua in an interview with Nampa confirmed on Wednesday the voluntary resignation of Noreses.

“I also communicated the same message to the Swapo Party district leadership of Otjiwarongo to now consider replacing her,” said Hikopua.

The names of Hilde Jesaja and KaNamibia Kandume are next on the list of the party in the local authority council.

The Otjiwarongo Municipality’s political office bearers last Tuesday failed to conclude their internal annual elections after they became embroiled in a heated debate while the proceedings were still on.

The councillors had started debating during the proceedings as some of them objected to the nomination of Noreses to serve on the management committee, saying she was a corruption convict.

Magistrate Ivette Fredricks, who was presiding, then postponed their elections to 14 December 2021, saying the councillors should first resolve their disagreement.

The meeting was aimed at electing the town mayor, deputy mayor, management committee chairperson and two permanent members and an alternate member to the committee who would serve the municipality for 12 months.

The seven councillors were Gottlieb Shivute, Julienda Kampungu, Godhardt Hoko, Hilde Noreses, Sebetius Guiteb, Dr Maritz Laubscher and Fearika Elizabeth Botha.

Shivute, Kampungu, Hoko and Noreses are all Swapo members, while Guiteb is from the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), Laubscher from the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) and Botha from the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC).

The debate started after Shivute nominated Noreses to the position of management committee member, to which the opposition unanimously objected.

They said Noreses was corrupt as she was found guilty and sentenced by a competent court of law in July 2021. They further stated that she even paid a fine of N.dollars 50 000 to escape a two-year jail term to her charges of bribery and corruption.

Noreses committed the crime at the Ministry of Finance, where she worked in Otjiwarongo.

She however resigned and paid the fine for her to continue serving at the municipality.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency