N$650k bill haunts Erongo RED director
Usakos residents bemoan preferential treatment
Erongo RED board member Irene Simeon-Kurz is in hot soup for a spiralling electricity bill, while presiding over power cut-offs of ordinary citizens.
Usakos residents are up in arms after an Erongo RED board member allegedly got away with having outstanding electricity debt of about N$650 000, while their electricity is disconnected when they owe much less.
This came to light after an Erongo RED statement from 23 April regarding a service station - allegedly owned by board member Irene Simeon-Kurz, who is also an Usakos councillor - was leaked to the community, showing that the business owed the regional electricity distributor N$649 728.45.
Community activist and member of Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Joseph Kandowa issued a letter to Erongo RED board chairperson Zoe Nambahu in May, demanding corrective measures on the issue.
He called the debt “a clear contravention of Erongo RED’s code of conduct, conflict of interest policy and applicable laws and regulations governing the operations of Erongo RED”.
“As a general rule, all board members have a statutory and common law duty to avoid any potential conflict of interest, and to act in the best interest of Erongo RED at all times,” he said.
He said the community is demanding urgent disciplinary action against Simeon-Kurtz by the board, including her removal and termination as a board member.
They are also demanding that the service station be disconnected.
“A debt repayment plan [should be] worked out in a similar fashion as is applied to a normal resident when they owe Erongo RED less than N$1 000,” he said, adding that failure to meet the demands will result in the aggrieved community protesting and demanding justice.
Tight-lipped
When contacted for comment, Erongo RED acting CEO Nico Niemand said the company is aware of the letter from Kandowa, but added that in compliance with the company’s policies, it is not in a position to disclose account-related or any other information about its customers or stakeholders to a third party without the customer’s consent.
In a response to Kandowa directly, Nambahu confirmed that the service station is an Erongo RED customer, but could not disclose further information.
As for perceived conflict of interest, she said, all board of directors are clients of Erongo RED - be it residential, business or employer accounts.
“We confirm and assure that conflict of interest is managed as per governance of the company,” she assured.
She also said the power to appoint or remove a director from the board solely vests in the shareholder.
AR ‘instigating issues’
Simeon-Kurz did not dispute the fact that there was an amount outstanding, but added that she could not speak on the company’s behalf as it was against policy.
“Ask them why they have not cut the power yet. I have requested them for answers too on the account but they have not responded.
“This is some sort of a cover up, and they are using AR to instigate these issues,” she said. “Someone has to give answers.”
The matter comes at a time during which Simeon-Kurz claimed that the recruitment process of Erongo RED’s new CEO, Immanuel !Hanabeb, was irregular, and should be reversed.
In the meantime, the former CEO, Fessor Mbango, whose contract was not renewed, has lodged a dispute with the office of the Labour Commissioner and the High Court.
This came to light after an Erongo RED statement from 23 April regarding a service station - allegedly owned by board member Irene Simeon-Kurz, who is also an Usakos councillor - was leaked to the community, showing that the business owed the regional electricity distributor N$649 728.45.
Community activist and member of Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Joseph Kandowa issued a letter to Erongo RED board chairperson Zoe Nambahu in May, demanding corrective measures on the issue.
He called the debt “a clear contravention of Erongo RED’s code of conduct, conflict of interest policy and applicable laws and regulations governing the operations of Erongo RED”.
“As a general rule, all board members have a statutory and common law duty to avoid any potential conflict of interest, and to act in the best interest of Erongo RED at all times,” he said.
He said the community is demanding urgent disciplinary action against Simeon-Kurtz by the board, including her removal and termination as a board member.
They are also demanding that the service station be disconnected.
“A debt repayment plan [should be] worked out in a similar fashion as is applied to a normal resident when they owe Erongo RED less than N$1 000,” he said, adding that failure to meet the demands will result in the aggrieved community protesting and demanding justice.
Tight-lipped
When contacted for comment, Erongo RED acting CEO Nico Niemand said the company is aware of the letter from Kandowa, but added that in compliance with the company’s policies, it is not in a position to disclose account-related or any other information about its customers or stakeholders to a third party without the customer’s consent.
In a response to Kandowa directly, Nambahu confirmed that the service station is an Erongo RED customer, but could not disclose further information.
As for perceived conflict of interest, she said, all board of directors are clients of Erongo RED - be it residential, business or employer accounts.
“We confirm and assure that conflict of interest is managed as per governance of the company,” she assured.
She also said the power to appoint or remove a director from the board solely vests in the shareholder.
AR ‘instigating issues’
Simeon-Kurz did not dispute the fact that there was an amount outstanding, but added that she could not speak on the company’s behalf as it was against policy.
“Ask them why they have not cut the power yet. I have requested them for answers too on the account but they have not responded.
“This is some sort of a cover up, and they are using AR to instigate these issues,” she said. “Someone has to give answers.”
The matter comes at a time during which Simeon-Kurz claimed that the recruitment process of Erongo RED’s new CEO, Immanuel !Hanabeb, was irregular, and should be reversed.
In the meantime, the former CEO, Fessor Mbango, whose contract was not renewed, has lodged a dispute with the office of the Labour Commissioner and the High Court.
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