Airports fires top officials

FOUR Namibia Airports Company (NAC) officials, who have been on suspension for over a year, have been fired after numerous attempts to haul them before a disciplinary hearing failed, The Namibian has learned.

According to reliable sources at the NAC, the “accused” officials received their letters of dismissal on Friday. But the company is remaining tight-lipped over the latest development.Both its Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman passed the buck between each other when contacted for confirmation yesterday.”It’s possible they received the letters, but they [letters] are not from me… it is a management matter, talk to the CEO,” said NAC chairman John Akwenye.CEO Tukondjelanee Nghihalua responded:”I cannot comment because since last year we agreed and announced that the Board will deal with and speak on behalf of the company regarding this matter.”The Namibian has established that the dismissal letters were signed by Nghihalua.The officials, all from the company’s Finance, Administration and Information Technology Department, including General Manager Francis Liswaniso, were apparently notified that they had been dismissed due to failure to perform their duties.This is despite the fact the suspension was triggered by the discovery of a multi-million fraud scam at the NAC towards the end of July last year.The key suspect in the scandal was the company’s former management accountant, Simwanza Lilungwe, who committed suicide hours after the massive fraud was uncovered.The company originally maintained that the four officials – who also include Financial Accountant Sigfried Neumann; System Administrator Raimo Hasheela; and his assistant, Alfred Shaduka – were not accused of any crime but only sent on “forced leave” to ensure that the investigation was “independent, unhindered and free.”They were later charged, but their planned disciplinary hearing has had to be postponed on numerous occasions since last year as they demanded to be given the forensic audit report beforehand.Allegations had been rife among company staff that the NAC board was reluctant to release the forensic report, which was apparently completed in September, because some of its contents implicated certain senior managers in “irregularities”.The Namibian has further learned that the State-owned airports company has only offered to pay the now “dismissed” workers’ accrued leave days and their pension contributions within seven days.The workers, who could not all be reached for comment, are said to be contemplating court action for unfair dismissal without a disciplinary hearing.The suspension of the four officials on full pay since July last year and the NAC’s failure to resolve a long-standing saga resulted in huge extra financial cost, which by March was said to have exceeded the N$3,5 million stolen during the scam.But the company is remaining tight-lipped over the latest development.Both its Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman passed the buck between each other when contacted for confirmation yesterday. “It’s possible they received the letters, but they [letters] are not from me… it is a management matter, talk to the CEO,” said NAC chairman John Akwenye.CEO Tukondjelanee Nghihalua responded:”I cannot comment because since last year we agreed and announced that the Board will deal with and speak on behalf of the company regarding this matter.”The Namibian has established that the dismissal letters were signed by Nghihalua.The officials, all from the company’s Finance, Administration and Information Technology Department, including General Manager Francis Liswaniso, were apparently notified that they had been dismissed due to failure to perform their duties.This is despite the fact the suspension was triggered by the discovery of a multi-million fraud scam at the NAC towards the end of July last year.The key suspect in the scandal was the company’s former management accountant, Simwanza Lilungwe, who committed suicide hours after the massive fraud was uncovered.The company originally maintained that the four officials – who also include Financial Accountant Sigfried Neumann; System Administrator Raimo Hasheela; and his assistant, Alfred Shaduka – were not accused of any crime but only sent on “forced leave” to ensure that the investigation was “independent, unhindered and free.”They were later charged, but their planned disciplinary hearing has had to be postponed on numerous occasions since last year as they demanded to be given the forensic audit report beforehand.Allegations had been rife among company staff that the NAC board was reluctant to release the forensic report, which was apparently completed in September, because some of its contents implicated certain senior managers in “irregularities”.The Namibian has further learned that the State-owned airports company has only offered to pay the now “dismissed” workers’ accrued leave days and their pension contributions within seven days.The workers, who could not all be reached for comment, are said to be contemplating court action for unfair dismissal without a disciplinary hearing.The suspension of the four officials on full pay since July last year and the NAC’s failure to resolve a long-standing saga resulted in huge extra financial cost, which by March was said to have exceeded the N$3,5 million stolen during the scam.