Cabinet rejects Shiimi’s choice for CPBN CEO

Finance and public enterprises minister Ipumbu Shiimi has been instructed to revisit a recruitment process to appoint a new CEO for the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) after Cabinet raised questions about how Idi Itope was picked for the job.Shiimi this week presented Itope, the Namibia Revenue Agency’s (NamRA) head of domestic tax, for Cabinet approval.It is alleged that Itope came fourth in the interviews, but sources close to the process said the five candidates scored differently in three categories, therefore the final overall score should reign supreme to scores from individual categories.It is alleged that Telecom Namibia chief commercial officer Calvin Muniswaswa, information ministry executive director Audrin Mathe and Namibia Investment and Promotion Development Board (NIPDB) CEO Richwell Lukonga all scored higher than Itope, but were overlooked. Deputy executive director in the ministry of industrialisation, Michael Humavindu, was also shortlisted.Interviews for the coveted position were conducted in August last year. The process had three components - a panel interview, a presentation and a psychometric test.The top three candidates from the panel and presentation segments of the evaluation process proceeded to the psychometric test, after which the tally from the three segments would determine the highest score. Shiimi submitted Itope’s name to Cabinet, but a commotion ensued after it was alleged by some in the chambers that the highest-scoring candidates were ignored in his favour.Raw dataA source told Namibian Sun that Itope scored the highest in the psychometric test, which shot up his overall score. “He did fairly well in the other segments, but it was in the psychometric test where his overall tally emerged the highest,” an official close to the process said. Cabinet has ordered Shiimi to get the raw data of each candidate’s performance from the recruitment agency that conducted the interviews.Commenting on the recruitment, Shiimi said the process had not reached its logical conclusion yet. “The recruitment process has not been finalised, therefore it is premature to discuss the matter.”Lawyer Amon Ngavetene has been acting chairperson and substantive head of CPBN since March 2021. But amendments to the Public Procurement Act revoked the dual responsibility of the chairperson, meaning Ngavetene would have to step down as administrative head of the entity. It is, however, understood that he will retain his job as chairperson. He replaced founding chairperson Patrick Swartz.

Cabinet rejects Shiimi’s choice for CPBN CEO

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-25

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Cabinet rejects Shiimi’s choice for CPBN CEO

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-25

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