Date now set to decide airport officials’ fates

THE long-awaited disciplinary hearing of four Namibia Airports Company (NAC) officials, who have been on suspension since last year, has been set for this month.

This was confirmed by NAC board chairman John Akwenye, after lawyers representing some of the “accused” officials informed The Namibian that they had finally received the detailed audit. Towards the end of last July, the State-owned enterprise suspended four top executives in the Finance, Administration and Information Technology Department, including General Manager Francis Liswaniso, following the discovery of a massive scam involving millions of dollars.The other three were: Financial Accountant Sigfried Neumann; System Administrator Raimo Hasheela; and his assistant, Alfred Shaduka.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 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 disciplinary hearing had to be postponed on two different occasions since last year as they demanded to see the report beforehand, which the NAC was apparently reluctant to release.”We now have the report, we received it last week, it is a voluminous document which we will study carefully before we agree on the new date for the hearing,” Liswaniso’s lawyer, Neels Verwey, told The Namibian.The NAC has remained increasingly tightlipped on the exact charges brought against the four officials amid claims that most of the accusations are not related to the alleged scam.But The Namibian has learned that Liswaniso and Neumann were in fact charged with refusing to give bank statements to the CEO and with failing to implement an asset register.Last week Akwenye said he still had no comment on the charges brought against the officials, saying, “I don’t have the charge sheet with me, it is with the people who will be handling the DC (disciplinary committee)”.Meanwhile, NAC is said to be spending huge sums of money on consultants because of the long-standing suspension of the four officials, who are all on full pay and benefits.The Namibian has established from reliable sources in the company that one consultant is allegedly earning N$54 000 a month to “act” as financial accountant.The amount of N$54 000, which translates into N$300 an hour, is three times the salary of the NAC’s own suspended financial accountant.”I can’t confirm or deny the allegations … Definitely payments are being made but I can’t confirm those amounts,” Akwenye said when approached over the alleged payment of huge sums of money to consultants.Although the exact amount of money involved in the multi-million-dollar fraud scandal is yet to be determined, a loss of N$3,5 million has already been established.Towards the end of last July, the State-owned enterprise suspended four top executives in the Finance, Administration and Information Technology Department, including General Manager Francis Liswaniso, following the discovery of a massive scam involving millions of dollars. The other three were: Financial Accountant Sigfried Neumann; System Administrator Raimo Hasheela; and his assistant, Alfred Shaduka. 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 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 disciplinary hearing had to be postponed on two different occasions since last year as they demanded to see the report beforehand, which the NAC was apparently reluctant to release. “We now have the report, we received it last week, it is a voluminous document which we will study carefully before we agree on the new date for the hearing,” Liswaniso’s lawyer, Neels Verwey, told The Namibian. The NAC has remained increasingly tightlipped on the exact charges brought against the four officials amid claims that most of the accusations are not related to the alleged scam. But The Namibian has learned that Liswaniso and Neumann were in fact charged with refusing to give bank statements to the CEO and with failing to implement an asset register. Last week Akwenye said he still had no comment on the charges brought against the officials, saying, “I don’t have the charge sheet with me, it is with the people who will be handling the DC (disciplinary committee)”. Meanwhile, NAC is said to be spending huge sums of money on consultants because of the long-standing suspension of the four officials, who are all on full pay and benefits. The Namibian has established from reliable sources in the company that one consultant is allegedly earning N$54 000 a month to “act” as financial accountant. The amount of N$54 000, which translates into N$300 an hour, is three times the salary of the NAC’s own suspended financial accountant. “I can’t confirm or deny the allegations … Definitely payments are being made but I can’t confirm those amounts,” Akwenye said when approached over the alleged payment of huge sums of money to consultants. Although the exact amount of money involved in the multi-million-dollar fraud scandal is yet to be determined, a loss of N$3,5 million has already been established.