How Low Can You Go?

Readers must have noticed a press statements in all the newspapers attacking the integrity of The Namibian’s reports that unearthed the questionable recruitment of their new chief executive officer, Sara Naanda. The TransNamib statements called our reporting sensational, populist, inaccurate and told us to uphold “high ethical [and] professional standards if it [The Namibian] were to be a credible partner in the development of this nation”.
What TransNamib directors and management have neither disputed nor provided alternative information to contradict our reporting is: Naanda, while being the deputy chairperson of the board of directors approached Jerry Muadinohamba to recruit him as CEO of TransNamib; Naanda without disclosure, went on to compete against Muadinohamba for the same position that she was recruiting him; TransNamib paid over N$230 000 for the recruitment process involving the two.
TransNamib labeled our reporting with terms like disingenuous, inaccurate and unethical. How rich under the circumstances!
Any reasonable-minded person can see through TransNamib’s defensive attitude of directors and managers who are economical with the truth. How ethical is it for a director to head-hunt a person and then compete against that candidate? What is disingenuous if not TransNamib stating that our reports accused their “human resource consultant” of “impropriety and misconduct” when the reports all but highlighted the board’s recruitment shenanigans? If the way TransNamib went about filling the CEO vacancy does not qualify as a measure of bad corporate governance, then we are afraid the “performance-oriented corporate culture” that the directors claim the parastatal wants to strive for, will always ring hollow. Putting up what amounts to a sham process has undermined Naanda’s credibility even if she was the best candidate.
Last year, we supported the directors’ independence to be allowed to direct the affairs of the transport state company even by firing its then CEO Titus Haimbili without political interference. We criticised the Ministry of Works and Transport for denying TransNamib funds to build and repair railway lines and instead handed the money over to companies with close ties of the ministry officials.
The TransNamib directors and management are now surely turning the English language on its head when claiming that what they are doing is open and “above board”. The news media has reported the lease of TransNamib property across the country to people with well-known friendship ties to directors and managers. They gave the property on such generous terms TransNamib itself appears to be the loser. TransNamib chair Festus Lameck was photographed privately partying with some of the well-known ‘Champagne set’, together with people to whom he awarded the TransNamib property deals. The directors have not provided a clear and public explanation of how the process was conducted and the agreement details.
And we wonder why TransNamib is said to have only three percent market-share of the freight business in the country despite their monopoly over the railway services and what amounts to a multi-billion dollar road transport business?
With directors and managers like these, who appear more interested in serving themselves, Namibians may well resign themselves to state-owned companies that will forever require taxpayer funds to keep going instead of serving the country.
That is just too bad.

On Racism And Discrimination

IF LESSONS are to be learnt from the Gobabis racism case where a black Namibian was attacked by at least two fellow Namibians of white complexion, then it is that we need to put in practice the culture we aspire to.
It appears that Namibians from all walks of life have taken it for granted that talk of reconciliation and shouting ‘one Namibia, one Nation’ will automatically unite us and make us proud of our country. Nothing comes from nothing.
Skin colour is only one microcosm of division among Namibians. What manifests itself as racism and tribalism is, in fact, class division based on material possession. Namibians have become comfortable living in different material worlds, creating exclusive recreation clubs and exclusive suburbs for the have-lots and the have-nothing.
Unless this unsustainable state of affairs is changed where the poorest have genuine opportunities and hope of getting out of their poverty based on hard work and intellect, we must all prepare for a destructive showdown between the different classes.