Kandjii-Murangi: ACC contacts Amupanda over travel allowance debacle
An Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) appeal for whistle-blower Job Amupanda to submit a statement on his corruption allegations against higher education minister Dr Itah Kandjii-Murangi has fallen on deaf ears, with the activist refusing to divulge any further information.
This follows claims that Kandjii-Murangi has been using parastatals under her ministry and the Namibia National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), which is based in her ministry, to fund her trips abroad – some of which are fully funded by her hosts.
Reacting to the allegations, ACC director-general Paulus Noa said efforts were made to reach out to Amupanda to get a statement from him, but the request was rejected.
“We will still try to [speak to] anyone who will give us concrete information. We even invited Job Amupanda to give us a statement or refer us to someone. He said he is not going to give us a statement,” Noa said of the allegations against Kandjii-Murangi.
The anti-graft body added that Amupanda’s claims were now being treated as baseless.
“We will find out on our own. For now, we take it as baseless social media allegations,” he said.
The ACC would only be guided by reliable information in the absence of Amupanda’s statement, Noa added.
“We want to rely on reliable sources. We don’t want to jump to conclusions, not be fascinated by social media statements.”
Waste of time
In response, Amupanda cast doubt on the ACC’s ability to address corruption.
“They [ACC] have a habit of discontinuing investigations at preliminary stages, so I didn’t want to waste my time with them.
"Even in this matter, they have been so slow and I'm told there are attempts by some institutions to destroy evidence.
“A lot of people have lately encouraged me to help the ACC and I am considering it,” he said.
S&T rot
In his latest viral social media post, Amupanda branded Kandjii-Murangi a corrupt minister.
One of the incidents regarding parastatals paying for Kandjii-Murangi’s travel allowance involves the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST).
The university has confirmed that it paid N$140 600 in travel expenses for the minister’s trip to Korea in February.
Namibian Sun reports today that Kandjii-Murangi asked the Namibia National Commission for Unesco to pay over N$22 000 for her trip to the United States in March, while Unesco International had committed to paying for her. She has not paid the money back to the local Unesco office, as was agreed at the time.
After the official trip ended on 7 March, Kandjii-Murangi allegedly stayed on in New York until 12 March. Her ministry had to cough up over N$196 000 for her further stay in America. It is not clear what necessitated the minister to extend her stay.
On Sunday, Kandjii-Murangi denied allegations that her travel allowance claims were of a corrupt nature.
“There is nothing untoward, because when I travel, I do not calculate and work out those payments. I can tell you there was nothing untoward.
“Those things [allowances] are administrative issues.”
This follows claims that Kandjii-Murangi has been using parastatals under her ministry and the Namibia National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), which is based in her ministry, to fund her trips abroad – some of which are fully funded by her hosts.
Reacting to the allegations, ACC director-general Paulus Noa said efforts were made to reach out to Amupanda to get a statement from him, but the request was rejected.
“We will still try to [speak to] anyone who will give us concrete information. We even invited Job Amupanda to give us a statement or refer us to someone. He said he is not going to give us a statement,” Noa said of the allegations against Kandjii-Murangi.
The anti-graft body added that Amupanda’s claims were now being treated as baseless.
“We will find out on our own. For now, we take it as baseless social media allegations,” he said.
The ACC would only be guided by reliable information in the absence of Amupanda’s statement, Noa added.
“We want to rely on reliable sources. We don’t want to jump to conclusions, not be fascinated by social media statements.”
Waste of time
In response, Amupanda cast doubt on the ACC’s ability to address corruption.
“They [ACC] have a habit of discontinuing investigations at preliminary stages, so I didn’t want to waste my time with them.
"Even in this matter, they have been so slow and I'm told there are attempts by some institutions to destroy evidence.
“A lot of people have lately encouraged me to help the ACC and I am considering it,” he said.
S&T rot
In his latest viral social media post, Amupanda branded Kandjii-Murangi a corrupt minister.
One of the incidents regarding parastatals paying for Kandjii-Murangi’s travel allowance involves the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST).
The university has confirmed that it paid N$140 600 in travel expenses for the minister’s trip to Korea in February.
Namibian Sun reports today that Kandjii-Murangi asked the Namibia National Commission for Unesco to pay over N$22 000 for her trip to the United States in March, while Unesco International had committed to paying for her. She has not paid the money back to the local Unesco office, as was agreed at the time.
After the official trip ended on 7 March, Kandjii-Murangi allegedly stayed on in New York until 12 March. Her ministry had to cough up over N$196 000 for her further stay in America. It is not clear what necessitated the minister to extend her stay.
On Sunday, Kandjii-Murangi denied allegations that her travel allowance claims were of a corrupt nature.
“There is nothing untoward, because when I travel, I do not calculate and work out those payments. I can tell you there was nothing untoward.
“Those things [allowances] are administrative issues.”
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