Archie Benjamin gets 5-year contract extension as Swakopmund CEO
By Adolf Kaure.
The Swakopmund Chief Executive, Archie Benjamin recently signed a five-year extension to his employment contract at the coastal town’s Municipal Chambers.
Speaking at the signing event, Benjamin expressed his gratitude to the Swakopmund Municipal Council for the council’s confidence in his leadership.
“I am humbled by the trust individually and collectively that you and indeed the community of Swakopmund, have placed in me. I pledge to uphold the high standards of excellence and integrity associated with this role.”
“I am looking forward to a productive and mutually beneficial tenure as Chief Executive Officer for the following 5 years”
“I am confident that together we can overcome challenges and seize opportunities to propel the organization and Swakopmund City to new heights,” said Benjamin.
During his first five years as Chief Executive Benjamin lead the Swakopmund Municipality in achieving several significant milestones that will serve as launch pads for sustained future development.
With the help of his team, he established clarity about the future of the Swakopmund Municipality through finalizing key strategic processes. This includes the structural plan, the strategic plan and the integrated bulk infrastructure master plan
The structure plan is a broad-based 20-year structural develop plan for Swakopmund that establishes key development principals. It further defines the land use rights of all portions of land within Swakopmund’s town boundaries and establishes five key development pillars on which Swakopmund’s long-term development is based.
The strategic plan is a 5-year plan that serves as an implementation tool for the 20-year structure plan. This plan has a clear vision, a mission statement, values and key performance indicators that need to be met within defined timelines.
The integrated bulk infrastructure master plan represents a city-wide plan that assessed the bulk infrastructure defects currently experienced. This includes water, sewerage, roads, and electrical infrastructure. The plan determines capacity of the current infrastructure to accommodate the growing development needs of Swakopmund which include population increases.
Under his tenure, the Swakopmund Municipal Council allocated land to over 1500 beneficiaries under the Build Together Programme, the DRC (Democratic Residents Community) ownership project, the Mass Housing Programme, the 40/40 projects as well as private initiatives.
A further 89 beneficiaries will receive houses in October under the Mass Housing Programme.
Additionally, 246 beneficiaries of the DRC (Seaside) and DRC (Proper) will receive land as part of the Municipal Council’s decongestion process within the following two months, pending Council approval.
Furthermore, Council has allocated land to developers such as Block 9, Quintessential (Pty) Ltd, Eddy Angula Trust, Elize Investment (Mondesa) other which will continue to deliver land and housing for Swakopmund’s residents.
“These are not small measures in Council’s quest to change people’s lives!” said Benjamin.
Other include bulk infrastructure upgrades (sewerage infrastructure upgrade), construction of tertiary institutions as well as an open air education centre.
Additionally, under the leadership of Benjamin, the Swakopmund Municipal Council is in the process of implementing 22 key investment projects in land servicing, housing and alternative energy.
“We have moved ahead in implementation of these ideas and decisions. We have shown over the past few years that if we put our hands and heads together we can overcome the challenges of development that we are facing,” he said.
According to Swakopmund Mayor, Her Worship Dina Namubes renewing Benjamin’s contract was not a difficult decision as he surpassed expectations.
“During his first five years, Archie Benjamin achieved far more than what was expected. Hence, our decision to renew his contract was not a daunting task.”
“The success of this organization can be celebrated as a result of his hard work, dedication and passion. We realised that we need to keep him longer so that our community can continue to enjoy the fruits of his labour,” said Namubes.
With his current contract expiring on 30 November, Archie Benjamin will commence with his second tenure as the Chief Executive of Swakopmund on 01 December.
The Chief Executive of the Swakopmund municipality, Archie Benjamin receives his extension contract from Swakopmund Mayor Her Worship Dina Namubes witnessed by councillors and general managers. (Photograph by Adolf Kaure)
