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04:08Last update on: 12 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Mon 12 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-07-22
Hardap official resigns amid graft probe
Luqman Cloete
THE Hardap Regional Council’s deputy finance director, John Jerry Van Wyk, resigned with immediate effect last week amid a criminal investigation into an alleged misappropriation council money.
Council money amounting close to N$150 000 was detected as missing after a routine bank reconciliation, The Namibian has been informed.
A source within the council said the bank reconciliation uncovered discrepancies in a form of a unexplained cheque payment of N$72 400 and a N$75 590 bank electronic transfer to Monate Events Management, a company believed to owned by Van Wyks’ wife.
The cheque payment was signed by Van Wyk and council’s planning director Theresia Basson on 3 January 2012, while the electronic bank transfer was authorised by Van Wyk and council’s chief executive officer Yvonne Boois in March this year.
During an interrogation by the council’s management committee at a council’s extra-ordinary meeting called last week following the detection of the irregular payments, Van Wyk allegedly preferred to remain silent when asked to shed light on the payments made to Monate Events Management.
The said meeting resolved to remove Basson and Van Wyk as signatories on the council’s bank accounts, and moved Van Wyk from his office to the Mariental Urban constituency office.
It also ordered Basson to vacate her office and to occupy one of the planning directorates sub division offices.
An aggrieved staffer, who preferred anonymity out of fear of retribution, accused the council’s management committee of treating Boois with “kid gloves” in the matter.
“As accounting officer Boois should also be held accountable for the missing funds,” said the staffer, adding that it seems that only Van Wyk and Basson are being implicated in the misappropriation of funds although Boois had co-signed the unexplained electronic bank transfer.
According to the staffer, the council management committee has taken a premature decision that the electronic bank transfer authorisation looks “dubious” despite Boois having confirmed her on it.
“The council is biased.
Instead of taking a premature decision, they should call in forensic experts to determine the authenticity of the bank electronic transfer authorisation,” the staffer charged.
The staffer attributed the embezzlement of the council money to a lack of bank reconciliation over the past three years.
“The compilation of bank reconciliation reports only started after the appointment of the chief accountant in November last year,” the staffer disclosed.
The council’s chairperson, Jeremia Van Neel, yesterday confirmed the alleged misappropriation of funds and Van Wyk’s resignation, adding council has opened a fraud case with the Mariental Police.
Acknowledging that Boois had confirmed her signature of the unexplained electronic bank transfer authorisation, Van Neel added that council regarded the transfer as “dubious” since it is not the council’s policy to make electronic transfers to individuals’ bank accounts.
“Electronic bank transfers are only done when council does interbank fund transfers,” Van Neel added. Responding to allegations that council was treating Boois with kid gloves in the matter, Van Neel remarked: “We primarily focus on the cheque payments, but we have equally ordered the police to also investigate the electronic bank transfer authorisation”.
luqman@namibian.com.na
Council money amounting close to N$150 000 was detected as missing after a routine bank reconciliation, The Namibian has been informed.
A source within the council said the bank reconciliation uncovered discrepancies in a form of a unexplained cheque payment of N$72 400 and a N$75 590 bank electronic transfer to Monate Events Management, a company believed to owned by Van Wyks’ wife.
The cheque payment was signed by Van Wyk and council’s planning director Theresia Basson on 3 January 2012, while the electronic bank transfer was authorised by Van Wyk and council’s chief executive officer Yvonne Boois in March this year.
During an interrogation by the council’s management committee at a council’s extra-ordinary meeting called last week following the detection of the irregular payments, Van Wyk allegedly preferred to remain silent when asked to shed light on the payments made to Monate Events Management.
The said meeting resolved to remove Basson and Van Wyk as signatories on the council’s bank accounts, and moved Van Wyk from his office to the Mariental Urban constituency office.
It also ordered Basson to vacate her office and to occupy one of the planning directorates sub division offices.
An aggrieved staffer, who preferred anonymity out of fear of retribution, accused the council’s management committee of treating Boois with “kid gloves” in the matter.
“As accounting officer Boois should also be held accountable for the missing funds,” said the staffer, adding that it seems that only Van Wyk and Basson are being implicated in the misappropriation of funds although Boois had co-signed the unexplained electronic bank transfer.
According to the staffer, the council management committee has taken a premature decision that the electronic bank transfer authorisation looks “dubious” despite Boois having confirmed her on it.
“The council is biased.
Instead of taking a premature decision, they should call in forensic experts to determine the authenticity of the bank electronic transfer authorisation,” the staffer charged.
The staffer attributed the embezzlement of the council money to a lack of bank reconciliation over the past three years.
“The compilation of bank reconciliation reports only started after the appointment of the chief accountant in November last year,” the staffer disclosed.
The council’s chairperson, Jeremia Van Neel, yesterday confirmed the alleged misappropriation of funds and Van Wyk’s resignation, adding council has opened a fraud case with the Mariental Police.
Acknowledging that Boois had confirmed her signature of the unexplained electronic bank transfer authorisation, Van Neel added that council regarded the transfer as “dubious” since it is not the council’s policy to make electronic transfers to individuals’ bank accounts.
“Electronic bank transfers are only done when council does interbank fund transfers,” Van Neel added. Responding to allegations that council was treating Boois with kid gloves in the matter, Van Neel remarked: “We primarily focus on the cheque payments, but we have equally ordered the police to also investigate the electronic bank transfer authorisation”.
luqman@namibian.com.na
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