Fired NYC board disobeyed me, says Tjongarero
Board drags minister to court
The board has dared the minister to prove her claims, saying her actions are unlawful.
Outgoing minister of sport, youth and national service Agnes Tjongarero says she sacked the National Youth Council (NYC) board because they consistently disobeyed her instructions.
The board’s term was due to expire on Wednesday.
The board was dismissed just a fortnight after the minister, in a similar style, removed Namibia Sports Commission board chairperson professor Cilas Wilders.
Tjongarero is set to retire in March 2025, when the term of the current Cabinet ends.
A statement late on Friday by the youth ministry confirmed that Tjongarero fired the board for myriad reasons, chief of which was disobeying ministerial directives.
The ministry further cited the mismanagement of funds, maladministration of the NYC, failure to organise National Youth Week – which is a statutory obligation under the NYC Act, failure to disclose conflicts of interest and wasting organisational resources by hosting unsanctioned meetings, among other reasons.
The dismissal of the board is reportedly part of a grander plan to prevent youth leader Simon Taapopi from being elected as the NYC’s next executive chairperson.
Taapopi was earmarked to replace Sharonice Busch, who resigned from that position on 4 December, after she was elected to parliament.
The NYC general assembly to elect the new leadership was slated for the past weekend at the Rietfontein Training Centre, until the process came to a grinding halt.
“Taapopi was going to be unopposed. So, the best was to collapse the entire proceedings,” a source privy to the NYC power struggles said.
The source added: “The board serves a four-year period. Their term ends on 18 December. By law, the general assembly is a statutory platform when the new board and executive person get elected. The minister cancelled the general assembly on Friday morning, a day before the official opening. All delegates had travelled to Rietfontein already. The entire general assembly is paid for. The official opening was supposed to be on Saturday.
“The board wrote back to her on the same day, with the legal advice that she’s acting outside of her powers as minister,” the official said.
Namibian Sun understands that Tjongarero was told by the attorney general that her decision to dismiss the board was unlawful – advice which she initially heeded, before making an eleventh-hour U-turn.
On Saturday, the board filed an urgent application challenging the minister’s decision, which was heard only in the evening.
Further court proceedings were expected last night, with Sisa Namandje representing the board, and government attorneys expected to defend the minister.
Yesterday, a board member said: “The minister’s claims are baseless. We submit quarterly reports to the ministry. If anything irregular was identified, funding towards the council would have been stopped. We should’ve been charged, taken through a process and found guilty.”
Other specific accusations raised in Tjongarero’s letter were failed regional conferences at Swakopmund and Ondangwa, and bypassing procurement protocols.
Speaking to Namibian Sun yesterday, Tjongarero said: "So it [dismissal] was unlawful? I had no knowledge of that. The lawyers are still busy with this, so we will see what happens after they are done.”
She added: “What was I supposed to do if they [board members] didn’t listen to anything I instructed them to do? Who will I work with?"
The board’s term was due to expire on Wednesday.
The board was dismissed just a fortnight after the minister, in a similar style, removed Namibia Sports Commission board chairperson professor Cilas Wilders.
Tjongarero is set to retire in March 2025, when the term of the current Cabinet ends.
A statement late on Friday by the youth ministry confirmed that Tjongarero fired the board for myriad reasons, chief of which was disobeying ministerial directives.
The ministry further cited the mismanagement of funds, maladministration of the NYC, failure to organise National Youth Week – which is a statutory obligation under the NYC Act, failure to disclose conflicts of interest and wasting organisational resources by hosting unsanctioned meetings, among other reasons.
The dismissal of the board is reportedly part of a grander plan to prevent youth leader Simon Taapopi from being elected as the NYC’s next executive chairperson.
Taapopi was earmarked to replace Sharonice Busch, who resigned from that position on 4 December, after she was elected to parliament.
The NYC general assembly to elect the new leadership was slated for the past weekend at the Rietfontein Training Centre, until the process came to a grinding halt.
“Taapopi was going to be unopposed. So, the best was to collapse the entire proceedings,” a source privy to the NYC power struggles said.
The source added: “The board serves a four-year period. Their term ends on 18 December. By law, the general assembly is a statutory platform when the new board and executive person get elected. The minister cancelled the general assembly on Friday morning, a day before the official opening. All delegates had travelled to Rietfontein already. The entire general assembly is paid for. The official opening was supposed to be on Saturday.
“The board wrote back to her on the same day, with the legal advice that she’s acting outside of her powers as minister,” the official said.
Namibian Sun understands that Tjongarero was told by the attorney general that her decision to dismiss the board was unlawful – advice which she initially heeded, before making an eleventh-hour U-turn.
On Saturday, the board filed an urgent application challenging the minister’s decision, which was heard only in the evening.
Further court proceedings were expected last night, with Sisa Namandje representing the board, and government attorneys expected to defend the minister.
Yesterday, a board member said: “The minister’s claims are baseless. We submit quarterly reports to the ministry. If anything irregular was identified, funding towards the council would have been stopped. We should’ve been charged, taken through a process and found guilty.”
Other specific accusations raised in Tjongarero’s letter were failed regional conferences at Swakopmund and Ondangwa, and bypassing procurement protocols.
Speaking to Namibian Sun yesterday, Tjongarero said: "So it [dismissal] was unlawful? I had no knowledge of that. The lawyers are still busy with this, so we will see what happens after they are done.”
She added: “What was I supposed to do if they [board members] didn’t listen to anything I instructed them to do? Who will I work with?"
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