‘Chicco’ Shapumba bags five Oshakati plots for N$406 000 amid fairness concerns

Northern businessman Erastus ‘Chicco’ Shapumba is set to acquire five industrial plots measuring a combination of 40 553 square metres at Oshakati for a total of N$405 540.

Some opposition parties within the council have admitted that allocating five plots to a single individual might be considered as “unfair” and “concerning”.

Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Oshakati councillor Victoria Moongo says this allocation “does not sufficiently demonstrate fairness, transparency or equitable access”.

“While it has been stated that the land in question is low-lying and unserviced, this explanation does not justify the simultaneous allocation of multiple plots to one beneficiary without a clearly competitive and transparent process,” she says.

A 2017 report by The Namibian shows that Shapumba bought land in Windhoek from Trustco in 2013 for N$4 million, then sold it to the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency for around N$40 million in 2016, making N$27 million more in three years.

Last year, The Namibian also reported that the government paid N$2.1 million to rent an office building owned by Shapumba in Windhoek without using it.

The town council says the allocation of the plots stemmed from Shapumba’s own interest to buy the land.

Shapumba last week said the plots needed servicing and that some individuals might get similar plots at a cheaper price, compared to the price he will be paying.

Meanwhile, Samco Export & Import CC, owned by Shamil Dirk, is also set to buy an industrial plot measuring 78 000 square metres, equivalent to about eight football stadiums, at Oshakati for N$784 000.

Samco is listed as having the largest plot among 69 beneficiaries in a land allocation notice issued by the Oshakati Town Council last week.

Dirk, who previously bought a similar plot at Oshakati and developed it by establishing a warehouse, says people from Windhoek have requested that he acquire bigger warehouses.

“I am going to do it better, probably a N$300-million investment after I am done,” he says, adding it would also benefit the town council to improve infrastructure and the public when it comes to development.

Neither Samco’s nor Shapumba’s properties are being sold at market value, but rather at a value determined by the town council at a rate of N$10 per square metre.

The council expects to generate N$3.97 million from the sale of the 69 properties under the current notice of sale.

‘SPECIAL ALLOCATION CONCERN’

Moongo says the way in which the beneficiary has been identified and has secured the plots at a significantly reduced rate raises legitimate public concern.

“Public resources must be allocated through open, competitive and accountable procedures that inspire public confidence,” she says.

Moongo is also concerned about the separate allocation of erf R/1396, to Samco, measuring 78 487 square metres at a listed price of N$785 000.

“Allocations of this magnitude require heightened scrutiny and transparency. The public is entitled to clarity on whether the decision was adopted through a fully recorded and transparent council resolution,” she says.

Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) shadow minister of urban and rural development Armas Amukoto says: “It’s strange when we are commenting negatively about Namibian businesses, but we did not say anything when the South African-owned company ‘Game’ allegedly got a similar plot at Oshakati at a price of one dollar per square metre.”

He says everyone must be treated equally.

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