Air Namibia’s Samson bails out
National airline, Air Namibia Wednesday announced that Acting Executive Head, Adv. Mandi Samson, has tendered her resignation in order to pursue other opportunities, with effect 15 March.
“As the Board of Directors bids farewell to Adv. Samson, we would like to thank her for her tireless efforts, commitment and dedication in caretaking Namibia’s national carrier. We wish Adv. Samson all the best in her next chapter and future endeavours,” said the company in a statement.
The company said the process to recruit a substantive CEO for Air Namibia has commenced and the board is tackling this task as one of their critical priorities in the short-term.
“We recognize that safety, stability and continuity are non-negotiable, in light of the work currently under way to lay the foundations for Air Namibia’s turnaround,” they added.
According to Air Namibia, to this end, the board has decided to appoint an interim CEO at the helm of the business until a substantive CEO has been appointed.
“The process to identify this interim individual has commenced and we will announce this appointment as soon as the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained. This interim appointment will allow incumbent Post Holders to focus on fixing the core operations in their respective posts, as well as enable Exco members to prioritise their efforts to address and improve performance in critical areas such as Finance, Commercial Services and Risk/Legal (including resolving the number of litigation matters in progress),” the statement added.
Meanwhile the newly appointed board of independent directors has spent significant time over the past 7 weeks since induction, obtaining a comprehensive and clearer view of the status quo of Air Namibia and is making good progress in holding management accountable to delivery on operational items, as well as moving towards finalising the strategic direction of the business.
“This is the dawn of a new era for Namibia and its national carrier. We as a team have agreed that Air Namibia needs to restore its rightful position as a reliable, trusted and loved company in the Namibian economy, and we are committed to contributing towards a sustainable and positive direction for the business, that yields tangible results over time,” said Board Chair, Adv Dee Sauls-Deckenbrock.
