Special sitting for Zambezi’s N$4.7m corruption scandal
• Chairperson accused of stalling
Management committee chairperson Matengu Simushi reportedly finds himself between a rock and a hard place, with pressure allegedly coming from his alliance to Swapo and those implicated in the million-dollar scandal.
The Zambezi regional council will today have a closed-door meeting to discuss the recent arrest of six senior council officials, including chief regional officer Regina Ndopu-Lubinda.
This was confirmed by one of the councillors, who spoke on condition of anonymity but is set to attend, saying they received an invitation for the meeting.
This will be the council’s first sitting after the arrests early this month, which saw Ndopu-Lubinda, head of planning and rural development Beaven Walubita, deputy director of planning Cletius Mubita, chief planner Daniel Mbala, deputy director for administration Abraham Shikoyeni and chief accountant Nimrod Lichela apprehended for alleged corruption.
The arrests were carried after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigated the matter.
Stalling
According to the source, the meeting follows numerous requests from councillors who feel management committee chairperson Matengu Simushi has been stalling on discussing the matter since the arrests were reported in the media.
Simushi has been mum on the matter, refusing to entertain text messages and phone calls from Namibian Sun since the news broke.
It is alleged he finds himself between a rock and hard place since he is a member of the ruling Swapo Party and the majority of those implicated in the scandal are party comrades too.
Eight councillors serve on the council, of which four represent Swapo and one the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), while the other three are independent candidates.
Suspend them!
Namibian Sun is reliably informed that the feeling amongst councillors is that those implicated should be suspended.
However, with only seven councillors expected to be present at the meeting - since Kongola constituency councillor Bennet Busihu, an independent candidate, was involved in a car accident on 1 October that claimed the life of his wife - it is alleged that the interest of the Swapo Party will prevail.
“Councillor Busihu is not fit to attend the meeting, which means there will be seven councillors at the meeting, of which four will be from Swapo Party,” the source said.
“The feeling is that the implicated officials must be suspended until their case comes to an end, but it will depend on the outcome of the meeting.
“The chairperson will have the deciding vote and since he is from Swapo, it is unlikely that he will allow his comrades to be suspended. But we hope the Swapo councillors will use their conscience and make the right choice.”
Since this is a human resources matter, the meeting is not open to the public.
Administrative clique
Namibian Sun reported recently that Ndopu-Lubinda approved a N$4.7 million payment to Denchi Consulting Engineers from council coffers after the ministry of urban and rural development refused to authorise it.
The other five suspects are said to be part of an administrative clique involved in a scheme to defraud the regional council, according to police investigators.
Investigations will also look into payments allegedly received by officials to facilitate a deal for Denchi.
Police sources told Namibian Sun that Ndopu-Lubinda handpicked Denchi without following procedures outlined in the Public Procurement Act.
All six officials appeared in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate’s Court after their arrest and were all granted bail of N$50 000 each.
The matter has been postponed to 7 December.
[email protected]
This was confirmed by one of the councillors, who spoke on condition of anonymity but is set to attend, saying they received an invitation for the meeting.
This will be the council’s first sitting after the arrests early this month, which saw Ndopu-Lubinda, head of planning and rural development Beaven Walubita, deputy director of planning Cletius Mubita, chief planner Daniel Mbala, deputy director for administration Abraham Shikoyeni and chief accountant Nimrod Lichela apprehended for alleged corruption.
The arrests were carried after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigated the matter.
Stalling
According to the source, the meeting follows numerous requests from councillors who feel management committee chairperson Matengu Simushi has been stalling on discussing the matter since the arrests were reported in the media.
Simushi has been mum on the matter, refusing to entertain text messages and phone calls from Namibian Sun since the news broke.
It is alleged he finds himself between a rock and hard place since he is a member of the ruling Swapo Party and the majority of those implicated in the scandal are party comrades too.
Eight councillors serve on the council, of which four represent Swapo and one the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), while the other three are independent candidates.
Suspend them!
Namibian Sun is reliably informed that the feeling amongst councillors is that those implicated should be suspended.
However, with only seven councillors expected to be present at the meeting - since Kongola constituency councillor Bennet Busihu, an independent candidate, was involved in a car accident on 1 October that claimed the life of his wife - it is alleged that the interest of the Swapo Party will prevail.
“Councillor Busihu is not fit to attend the meeting, which means there will be seven councillors at the meeting, of which four will be from Swapo Party,” the source said.
“The feeling is that the implicated officials must be suspended until their case comes to an end, but it will depend on the outcome of the meeting.
“The chairperson will have the deciding vote and since he is from Swapo, it is unlikely that he will allow his comrades to be suspended. But we hope the Swapo councillors will use their conscience and make the right choice.”
Since this is a human resources matter, the meeting is not open to the public.
Administrative clique
Namibian Sun reported recently that Ndopu-Lubinda approved a N$4.7 million payment to Denchi Consulting Engineers from council coffers after the ministry of urban and rural development refused to authorise it.
The other five suspects are said to be part of an administrative clique involved in a scheme to defraud the regional council, according to police investigators.
Investigations will also look into payments allegedly received by officials to facilitate a deal for Denchi.
Police sources told Namibian Sun that Ndopu-Lubinda handpicked Denchi without following procedures outlined in the Public Procurement Act.
All six officials appeared in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate’s Court after their arrest and were all granted bail of N$50 000 each.
The matter has been postponed to 7 December.
[email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article