CoD demands action

THE leader of Congress of Democrats, Ben Ulenga, says President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s failure to sack embattled Paulus Kapia has exposed his weakness.

“These weaknesses emanate from the fact that President Pohamba is not in control of the ruling Swapo Party,” Ulenga said in a statement yesterday. The CoD President said Pohamba could not initiate action at Swapo Party level because “his is a sitting-duck Government, unable to follow up on stated anti-corruption commitments made at the time of assuming office.””His ‘will harder than steel’ has been undermined, and the President has been made to ‘eat his words’.This is indeed a sad state of affairs,” Ulenga said.He was reacting on the involvement of Deputy Works Minister Kapia in the Avid Investment Corporation scandal.The company received N$30 million from the Social Security Commission to invest but failed to repay when it was due.Ulenga termed Avid as “a shadowy fly-by-night company linked through its directors to the ruling Swapo Party”.The Namibian reported yesterday that Kapia was about to be axed by President Pohamba and that State House was just waiting for him to return from leave.Ulenga proposed that an independent, civil-society-based anti-corruption forum be created in order to empower civil society and the nation at large to expose and act decisively against corruption.He said President Pohamba should not only fire Kapia but also appoint a commission of inquiry to probe allegations against everyone mentioned in the hearings.”In the light of all the allegations doing the rounds concerning financial irregularities in the country concerning large amounts of public funds, President Pohamba should also appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate these allegations, including the alleged involvement of former President Sam Nujoma,” he said.Nujoma, Kapia and Ralph Blaauw last week denied the involvement of the former President in the Avid scandal and said he was not even aware of the company’s existence until the hearing.Ulenga said Pohamba had the support of CoD in his anti-corruption crusade.”The only opposition President Pohamba may be facing is opposition from his own party, Swapo.But that would hardly be surprising.Swapo Party is the main source of all the alleged corruption,” he claimed.The CoD President said Pohamba could not initiate action at Swapo Party level because “his is a sitting-duck Government, unable to follow up on stated anti-corruption commitments made at the time of assuming office.””His ‘will harder than steel’ has been undermined, and the President has been made to ‘eat his words’.This is indeed a sad state of affairs,” Ulenga said.He was reacting on the involvement of Deputy Works Minister Kapia in the Avid Investment Corporation scandal.The company received N$30 million from the Social Security Commission to invest but failed to repay when it was due.Ulenga termed Avid as “a shadowy fly-by-night company linked through its directors to the ruling Swapo Party”.The Namibian reported yesterday that Kapia was about to be axed by President Pohamba and that State House was just waiting for him to return from leave.Ulenga proposed that an independent, civil-society-based anti-corruption forum be created in order to empower civil society and the nation at large to expose and act decisively against corruption.He said President Pohamba should not only fire Kapia but also appoint a commission of inquiry to probe allegations against everyone mentioned in the hearings.”In the light of all the allegations doing the rounds concerning financial irregularities in the country concerning large amounts of public funds, President Pohamba should also appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate these allegations, including the alleged involvement of former President Sam Nujoma,” he said.Nujoma, Kapia and Ralph Blaauw last week denied the involvement of the former President in the Avid scandal and said he was not even aware of the company’s existence until the hearing.Ulenga said Pohamba had the support of CoD in his anti-corruption crusade.”The only opposition President Pohamba may be facing is opposition from his own party, Swapo.But that would hardly be surprising.Swapo Party is the main source of all the alleged corruption,” he claimed.