Erongo Governor Neville Andre Itope has urged the Walvis Bay Municipality to fast-track the process of recruiting a chief executive officer (CEO) who will steer the municipality’s affairs in the right direction.

The governor made the remarks at the launch of the municipality’s strategic plan for the period June 2021 to June 2026 at Walvis Bay on Monday.

The municipality has been without a CEO since November last year, when a decision was taken by the council not to renew the former CEO Muronga Haingura’s contract.

“You need to ensure that you have a substantive CEO because you need to have someone to help sieve out what you need to implement out of your newly launched strategic plan.

It is also important to note that not only should you fast-track the process, but also ensure that you have got the right person for this job,” he advised.

The governor further urged all council employees to work together to ensure that services are delivered to the residents of the harbour town in a timely and quality manner.

Walvis Bay Mayor Trevino Forbes emphasised that the new strategic plan will allow the municipality to be proactive rather than reactive, especially when it comes to service delivery to its residents.

“It will also give the municipality a sense of direction. There is nothing worse than being in a ship and steering it into no man’s land without a plan as to how you will get there. The plan will increase the operational efficiency of the municipality,” he noted.

The strategic plan, which took close to a year to complete, was done in-house, a process which saved the council a significant amount of money, according to the mayor.

Deputy Mayor Saara Mutondoka, speaking at the same event, said: “Even though we celebrate the launch of this plan, success is not automatic, it is only the execution of the outcomes which will determine whether we are moving forward.”

Management and the entire council staff is therefore implored to commit to steering this ship forward as poor performance will not go unnoticed, she said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency