The Ministry of Health and Social Services has been accused of operating a “shadow” recruitment system, using secondments and job-grade manoeuvres to elevate preferred officials while bypassing strict Public Service Commission rules.
The Issue has learned that at least one promotion disguised as a secondment was pushed through, while the second was stopped in its tracks. The backtracking was allegedly forced by talks of a brewing mutiny amongst the ministry’s senior staff.
The animosity was caused by what ministry insiders said was a plan to handpick and promote Windhoek Central Hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Shitaleni ‘Chocky’ Herman, for a newly created procurement role. While also further extending Dr Theo-Ben Kandetu’s secondment as deputy executive director for a further five years.
The move to directly appoint Herman as deputy executive director responsible for procurement has not only sparked allegations of procedural bypassing but has also turned a spotlight on the unprecedented depletion of a multi-million dollar medical emergency fund under his watch.
Sources briefed on the matter stated that the appointment would have constituted a direct promotion, which contravenes public service regulations. These rules require that such positions be advertised to ensure a fair and competitive process for all interested candidates. Herman currently serves as the medical superintendent of the Windhoek Central Hospital.
Plans to confirm Herman were reportedly halted just before an official announcement could be made, last month. The reversal appears to have been prompted by reports that senior staff members were mobilising to protest as soon as the appointment was made public. Suspicion among the ministry’s medical professionals has been further heightened by Kandetu’s five-year secondment as deputy executive director in the Office of the executive director. His secondment means he occupies a position that has not been substantively filled for about 10 years since Dr Nobert Foster left the ministry.
Kandetu’s secondment first came in 2022 and last year, executive director Penda Iithindi extended Kandetu’s secondment for five years.
However, there is a problem.
Ministry officials started questioning Kandetu’s meteoric rise. From being a medical intern in 2018, he became a senior medical officer in 2019, without spending at least 12 months as a medical officer. By 2024, while still on secondment as deputy executive director and not really fully working as a senior medical officer in the hospital wards, he was then promoted to chief medical officer. The promotion meant taking up duty in the hospital wards, but this was also halted and he was reassigned to continue with his secondment as deputy ED.
Questions are now being asked as to whether public service rules were not violated, since senior positions at the level of deputy ED require a minimum of nine years of experience and at least three to five years senior managerial or supervisory experience. Kandetu’s colleagues are asking whether he qualifies for secondment since his professional experience at the ministry only started in 2019. Kandetu could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
DOUBLE DIPPING
Insiders suggest that Herman’s appointment may have been delayed to navigate complex administrative hurdles. Transitioning from medical superintendent to deputy executive director involves moving from a professional to an administrative function and potentially “skipping” a job grade.
Public Service Commission rules strictly prohibit civil servants from jumping grades during promotion. To circumvent this, a plan was allegedly devised to first promote Herman to chief medical superintendent, a post that sits administratively between his current role and that of a deputy executive director. Notably, a chief medical superintendent post is often more financially lucrative than an administrative deputy executive director role, as it includes professional allowances such as fixed overtime, about N$300 000 per year. Herman did not respond to questions sent to him via WhatsApp, two weeks ago.
Kandetu also faces similar questions because the fixed overtime benefit is only intended for practicing doctors who are seeing patients and making ward rounds, something difficult to achieve for someone occupying a demanding administrative post like deputy executive director.
The ministry’s administrative head, Penda Ithindi, dismissed the claims two weeks ago. Responding to The Issue via text, he stated: “I deny on record that there is such a thing as the direct promotion of Dr Shitaleni [Herman].”
UNDER SCRUTINY
The reports of an unprocedural promotion have placed Herman under scrutiny. His colleagues are now calling for an investigation into the ministry’s Special Fund, which Herman oversees in his capacity as head of the Central State Hospital.
The Special Fund is designed to cover the medical costs of state patients referred to private facilities when specific services, such as oncology, are unavailable in the public sector. The Issue understands that for the first time in its history, the Fund’s N$100 million budget was depleted within a single financial year (2025/26), requiring a further N$79 million replenishment.
While no evidence of wrongdoing has been produced, questions are being asked regarding the unprecedented spike in expenditure. executive director Ithindi did not provide specific details on the Fund’s utilisation but affirmed that “the Ministry prioritises saving lives within a rule-based system.”
These internal hostilities threaten to derail Health Minister Esperance Luvindao’s mission to overhaul the country’s public health sector. The timing is particularly sensitive, as The Issue understands that President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s decision to appoint Luvindao was questioned during last month’s Swapo Party Central Committee meeting.
