GOBABIS: The Witvlei Village Council has suspended its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chris Kavehorere Murangi with immediate effect.

He was on Friday suspended on allegations of maladministration, although formal charges are yet to be formalised against him, Nampa has learnt.

Murangi served in his position for less than eight months.

Witvlei Village Council Chairperson Livey van Wyk confirmed the suspension to Nampa upon enquiry on Tuesday, but refused to comment further.

Murangi assumed duty as Witvlei CEO on 03 January this year, after the village council had operated without a chief executive officer for nearly two years.

Nampa has established that relations between the suspended CEO and the council had been strained from the start, as some members of the council were apparently not in support of his appointment at the helm of the council.

The suspended CEO refused to comment when contacted on Tuesday, noting that he will only do so at a later stage.

“I am currently reviewing the suspension and cannot comment at this stage,” was all he would say.

The suspension has put the Witvlei Council back into public domain, and is bound to affect the already struggling public image of the eastern town.

Witvlei has been dogged by perennial NamWater debts and a lack of development, which has seen frequent uprising by the community against the council.