Bridgehead: NYC’s business arm turns heads for wrong reasons
Court papers have revealed that Bridgehead Group Holdings (BGH), the business arm of the National Youth Council (NYC), has reportedly failed to audit its financial records for nearly a decade, raising questions about how taxpayers' money has been managed.
Formed in 2010 with a focus on marine resources, BGH has been accused of financial mismanagement and secrecy.
The entity’s financial activities form part of an ongoing court case between dismissed NYC board members and the youth ministry, along with its affiliates.
Allegations of financial mismanagement against Bridgehead are detailed in an affidavit by NYC interim board chairperson Beverly Silas-!Garas.
In court documents, Silas-!Garas claims that despite NYC being the sole shareholder of Bridgehead, the entity’s operations remain opaque.
She states that in April 2023, NYC appointed former board members Simon Taapopi and Eva Awases as interim board members of Bridgehead.
However, since her appointment as NYC interim chairperson in December 2024 by former youth minister Agnes Tjongarero, she claims she has encountered significant resistance when enquiring about the company’s affairs.
“Since assuming my role, I have faced strong resistance in obtaining crucial financial information regarding Bridgehead. My attempts to uncover its dealings have been obstructed, and my findings are based solely on the limited documents accessible from NYC offices,” she notes.
Encountering hurdles
Silas-!Garas further states that on 21 January, she formally requested bank statements, audited financials, or at least management accounts from Bridgehead directors Taapopi and Awases, but they allegedly refused to comply.
“This refusal reinforces the suspicion that the company does not have audited financial statements,” she asserts.
She also alleges that state funds were funnelled into Bridgehead after Taapopi and Awases joined the board, yet there is no documentation detailing how these funds were used. Upon investigating, she claims she identified questionable transactions, pointing to a lack of transparency in the company’s operations.
Between 17 July 2023 and 2 September 2024, three transactions totalling N$700,000 were made from NYC to Bridgehead. However, there is allegedly no accountability regarding how these funds were spent. In June 2024, Bridgehead declared dividends of N$500 000 to NYC, a move Silas-!Garas described as deceptive, arguing that it occurred in the same year substantial funds were injected into the entity.
“The blatant lack of transparency and refusal to account for these funds is highly alarming, necessitating immediate intervention to expose the scope of financial misconduct within Bridgehead,” she says.
Bridgehead responds
When contacted for comment, Taapopi claimed that before he and Awases took over as interim board members, Bridgehead was essentially dormant. He argued that their objective was to restore the company to financial stability.
“At the start of my tenure as an interim board member, we found that the company had a negative bank balance, outstanding invoices, and statutory liabilities. The NYC board, in an effort to resuscitate Bridgehead, capitalised the entity with N$500 000, not N$700 000,” Taapopi explained.
He also said by the time Silas-!Garas requested financial documents, he had already resigned, as a substantive board had been appointed.
“She was part of the extraordinary meeting on 6 December 2024, where the NYC board received our final report and appointed a new board. Therefore, she knew that I was no longer part of the company and did not have access to the requested documents,” he explained.
Financial records
Regarding the declaration of dividends, Taapopi said Bridgehead holds a 40% equity stake in the Uukumwe Youth Empowerment Consortium, a company with rights to harvest marine resources. In 2024, Uukumwe declared dividends of N$800 000 to Bridgehead, which then allocated N$500 000 to NYC, N$100 000 to the NYC Youth Resource Centre, and retained the remainder.
Bridgehead’s board chairperson, Fimanekeni Petrus, in his response, noted that audited financial statements for 2018 to 2021 have been completed and are available. He added that audits for 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 are ongoing and will be completed soon.
“It is important to note that before the interim board of Taapopi and Awases, Bridgehead had no financial statements. The interim board initiated this process, ensuring that the company now has financial records that are audited or in the process of being audited,” Petrus said.
He further assured that the company is now compliant with all regulatory requirements and maintains a positive bank balance to sustain its day-to-day operations. “We believe the interim board has left Bridgehead in a far better position than it was before,” he said.
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Formed in 2010 with a focus on marine resources, BGH has been accused of financial mismanagement and secrecy.
The entity’s financial activities form part of an ongoing court case between dismissed NYC board members and the youth ministry, along with its affiliates.
Allegations of financial mismanagement against Bridgehead are detailed in an affidavit by NYC interim board chairperson Beverly Silas-!Garas.
In court documents, Silas-!Garas claims that despite NYC being the sole shareholder of Bridgehead, the entity’s operations remain opaque.
She states that in April 2023, NYC appointed former board members Simon Taapopi and Eva Awases as interim board members of Bridgehead.
However, since her appointment as NYC interim chairperson in December 2024 by former youth minister Agnes Tjongarero, she claims she has encountered significant resistance when enquiring about the company’s affairs.
“Since assuming my role, I have faced strong resistance in obtaining crucial financial information regarding Bridgehead. My attempts to uncover its dealings have been obstructed, and my findings are based solely on the limited documents accessible from NYC offices,” she notes.
Encountering hurdles
Silas-!Garas further states that on 21 January, she formally requested bank statements, audited financials, or at least management accounts from Bridgehead directors Taapopi and Awases, but they allegedly refused to comply.
“This refusal reinforces the suspicion that the company does not have audited financial statements,” she asserts.
She also alleges that state funds were funnelled into Bridgehead after Taapopi and Awases joined the board, yet there is no documentation detailing how these funds were used. Upon investigating, she claims she identified questionable transactions, pointing to a lack of transparency in the company’s operations.
Between 17 July 2023 and 2 September 2024, three transactions totalling N$700,000 were made from NYC to Bridgehead. However, there is allegedly no accountability regarding how these funds were spent. In June 2024, Bridgehead declared dividends of N$500 000 to NYC, a move Silas-!Garas described as deceptive, arguing that it occurred in the same year substantial funds were injected into the entity.
“The blatant lack of transparency and refusal to account for these funds is highly alarming, necessitating immediate intervention to expose the scope of financial misconduct within Bridgehead,” she says.
Bridgehead responds
When contacted for comment, Taapopi claimed that before he and Awases took over as interim board members, Bridgehead was essentially dormant. He argued that their objective was to restore the company to financial stability.
“At the start of my tenure as an interim board member, we found that the company had a negative bank balance, outstanding invoices, and statutory liabilities. The NYC board, in an effort to resuscitate Bridgehead, capitalised the entity with N$500 000, not N$700 000,” Taapopi explained.
He also said by the time Silas-!Garas requested financial documents, he had already resigned, as a substantive board had been appointed.
“She was part of the extraordinary meeting on 6 December 2024, where the NYC board received our final report and appointed a new board. Therefore, she knew that I was no longer part of the company and did not have access to the requested documents,” he explained.
Financial records
Regarding the declaration of dividends, Taapopi said Bridgehead holds a 40% equity stake in the Uukumwe Youth Empowerment Consortium, a company with rights to harvest marine resources. In 2024, Uukumwe declared dividends of N$800 000 to Bridgehead, which then allocated N$500 000 to NYC, N$100 000 to the NYC Youth Resource Centre, and retained the remainder.
Bridgehead’s board chairperson, Fimanekeni Petrus, in his response, noted that audited financial statements for 2018 to 2021 have been completed and are available. He added that audits for 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 are ongoing and will be completed soon.
“It is important to note that before the interim board of Taapopi and Awases, Bridgehead had no financial statements. The interim board initiated this process, ensuring that the company now has financial records that are audited or in the process of being audited,” Petrus said.
He further assured that the company is now compliant with all regulatory requirements and maintains a positive bank balance to sustain its day-to-day operations. “We believe the interim board has left Bridgehead in a far better position than it was before,” he said.
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