Taps shut on NAC

By Patience Nyangove
THE Namibia Airports Company (NAC) is set to get an entirely new board after the ministries of Works and Transport and Public Enterprises agreed to do away with the Ndeuhala Ndaendelao Lewis-led board by not renewing its term of office following a series of questionable multi-million dollar contracts that were allegedly awarded under its watch, Confidente has learnt.
The new board brings to the parastatal diverse experience in law, accounting, finance and auditing.
Confidente can also reveal that the new NAC board which was approved by Cabinet last week will be chaired by lawyer Rodgers Kauta, who will be deputised by Beverly Gawanas-Vugs. Gawanas-Vugs holds a Bachelors of Accounting (Honours) degree and is in the process of finalizing her Masters of Business Administration, both from the University of Namibia. She completed her articles in 2006 with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and has over 20 years of experience in auditing, accounting, finance, human resources, project management and general administration. Currently she is the Manager: Finance at the National Housing Enterprise and a Board Member of the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia.
Other board members are Ipupa Kasheeta, a terminal manager at Namport general manager at Namfisa and Rudolph Rohloff Rittmann. Lesenda Grace Mohamed, a Speculation has been rife whether some members of the old board’s term of office would be renewed especially after a verbal confrontation between the Minister of Public Enterprises Leon Jooste and his colleague Alpheus !Naruseb at Works and Transport after a submission prompting !Naruseb to surrender the troubled parastatal to his counterpart.
According to sources at the Ministry of Waorks and Transport, Cabinet approved the new board’s appointment last week.
The Minister of Public Enterprises, Leon Jooste, Monday also confirmed the appointment of the new board although he refused to divulge the identities of the new board.
“The new board was approved by Cabinet last Tuesday already. Entirely new … none of the former board members,” he said upon inquiry.
The old NAC board was made up of Lewis, Marthinus Boshoff, Frieda Aluteni, Panduleni Shimutwikeni and Agostinho Victor.
The old NAC board will be credited with presiding and approving quite a number of dubious contracts that saw the parastatal making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The most recent of such dubious contracts is the bypassing of tender procedures to award a N$156 million contract for the supply of a security system and check-in counters for Eros and the Hosea Kutako International airports, to a company which made headlines after it won a tender for airport scanners that do not detect metal and explosives.
NAC purchased 21 check-in counters at a cost of 2 750 600 euros which translates to N$46 750 000, 125 terminal seats at 432 015 euros that is nearly N$7.5 million, 81 CCTV cameras and three control rooms for 340 000 euros- N$5 780 000, communication system for counters 2 250 000 euros- N$38 million, conveyor belts 1 400 000 euros-N$23 800 000, safety equipment N$8 330 000 and the cost of supervision for foreign and local labour is listed as 1 197 895 euros-N$20 364 000. NAC management had decided to handpick IBB because it is the largest supplier of security equipment to the Namibian army and police force.
The NAC senior management also stands accused of dubiously awarding another N$20 million three-year contract to the same company owned by Egyptian national Muhammad Omar for the maintenance of airport scanners it had supplied NAC last year. The scanners have since failed to meet international standards since they do not detect metal that is less than 300 grams. NAC paid N$48 million for the scanners.
The NAC board also allegedly yet again bypassed set tender regulations and awarded a nearly N$212 million Ondangwa airport runway phase 2 contract without going to tender to a Chinese government owned entity, China State Construction Engineering (Southern Africa).
The NAC board also awarded Aurecon- Namibia PTY Ltd a company co-owned by the personal assistant to the Founding Father Sam Nujoma, John Nauta, businesswoman and the wife of Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport responsible for Government Air Transport Services, Joe Shipepe-Kandeshi Helena Shipepe, businessman Peter Hango Elindi, Johannes Marthinus Kaber and South African nationals, Cornelius van Staden and Ferdinand Nell as the supervising consulting engineers for the same project without going to tender.
The actions by the NAC board and management resulted in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) last month confiscating cellphones and computers belonging to the Chief Executive Officer of the parastatal Tamer El-Kallawi. ACC also confiscated cellphones and computers belonging to the parastatal’s strategic executive projects, IT and engineering, Courage Silombela, Elise Shaanika the company secretary and Lot Haifidi, the company’s legal advisor.