DBC assets were a ‘free-for-all’

HIGHER Education Deputy Minister Hadino Hishongwa awarded himself a hydraulic brick-making machine from a State-owned firm in what appears to have been a free-for-all attitude in the way DBC assets were handled.

Rachel Nghipondoka Niiho testified at the public hearings of the commission of inquiry into Amcom and DBC that Hishongwa took the machine citing a “Cabinet decision” to that effect which he never proved. But Hishongwa yesterday told The Namibian that the machine, which was idle, was among a list of assets Cabinet decided should be transferred to the National Youth Service (NYS) and that he had not even seen it himself.Asked whether she had proof from the Deputy Minister to show that procedures were followed, Niiho, the General Manager for the DBC subsidiary, Namibia Bricks Enterprises, said:”I went to his office and requested that he give me a letter or the Cabinet decision.He just agreed in principle but never [gave the letter].”Hishongwa refuted suggestions that he may have “privatised” the machine, but confirmed he told Niiho to give the machine to “our man responsible for collecting these things” for the NYS headquarters at Berg Aukas, 20 km east of Grootfontein.”How can I privatise something that does not belong to me?” he said.The manner in which the machine was taken highlights the chaotic way of disposing of the assets of DBC subsidiaries.Niiho, without approval from the board or statutory body, sold three brick-making machines to a businessman in northern Namibia.The money was deposited into the NBE account, she said.Legal Counsel for the inquiry, Eldorette Harmse, asked why Niiho sold the machines.”It’s difficult to say, but I will answer.He [businessman Johny Mweenda] approached the office of the General Manager to buy the machines because they were just lying idle,” Niiho said referring to herself in the third person.”Selling these machines, at the time I didn’t think it will bring me in trouble.This was the first and the last time,” she added.She also testified about a welding machine, which “disappeared from the office” in “questionable” circumstances.She said that she told an employee under whose care the welding machine was, to report the case to the Police.Harmse:”Did he do that?” Niiho:”Maybe” Harmse:”Did you follow up with the employee …?” “No, I didn’t follow it up,” said Niiho.”Why?,” asked Chairman of the inquiry, Petrus Unengu.”You suspected them yourself that they stole the machine but you asked them to report themselves [to the Police]?” The rest of Niiho’s testimony disclosed colossal losses, often in multi-million dollars, every year.Yet Niiho said she worked under the direction of a useful board of directors, such as Pheny Kalumbu and Petrus Kauluma, both northern businesspeople.”As you can see them here,” said Niiho gesturing over her shoulder, “they are older than me … I just respect them and follow their orders.”She said at one point Kauluma helped NBE obtain a contract in the building of the Pandu Cresta Lodge Hotel at Ondangwa.Kauluma together with NamPower MD, Dr Leake Hangala, owned 80 per cent of the hotel with the rest under businessman Haddis Tilahun of the United Africa Group.Niiho, who brought a briefcase and a suitcase on roller-blades, is expected to continue testifying today.The DBC was started to help integration former soldiers of the liberation war through training and job creation.MATTER OF FACTNamibia Bricks Enterprises was not the company which drilled boreholes on several farms of Cabinet ministers as the testimony from the public hearings implied on Monday.It was another DBC subsidiary specifically set up to do drilling.But Hishongwa yesterday told The Namibian that the machine, which was idle, was among a list of assets Cabinet decided should be transferred to the National Youth Service (NYS) and that he had not even seen it himself.Asked whether she had proof from the Deputy Minister to show that procedures were followed, Niiho, the General Manager for the DBC subsidiary, Namibia Bricks Enterprises, said:”I went to his office and requested that he give me a letter or the Cabinet decision.He just agreed in principle but never [gave the letter].”Hishongwa refuted suggestions that he may have “privatised” the machine, but confirmed he told Niiho to give the machine to “our man responsible for collecting these things” for the NYS headquarters at Berg Aukas, 20 km east of Grootfontein.”How can I privatise something that does not belong to me?” he said.The manner in which the machine was taken highlights the chaotic way of disposing of the assets of DBC subsidiaries.Niiho, without approval from the board or statutory body, sold three brick-making machines to a businessman in northern Namibia.The money was deposited into the NBE account, she said.Legal Counsel for the inquiry, Eldorette Harmse, asked why Niiho sold the machines.”It’s difficult to say, but I will answer.He [businessman Johny Mweenda] approached the office of the General Manager to buy the machines because they were just lying idle,” Niiho said referring to herself in the third person.”Selling these machines, at the time I didn’t think it will bring me in trouble.This was the first and the last time,” she added.She also testified about a welding machine, which “disappeared from the office” in “questionable” circumstances.She said that she told an employee under whose care the welding machine was, to report the case to the Police.Harmse:”Did he do that?” Niiho:”Maybe” Harmse:”Did you follow up with the employee …?” “No, I didn’t follow it up,” said Niiho.”Why?,” asked Chairman of the inquiry, Petrus Unengu.”You suspected them yourself that they stole the machine but you asked them to report themselves [to the Police]?” The rest of Niiho’s testimony disclosed colossal losses, often in multi-million dollars, every year.Yet Niiho said she worked under the direction of a useful board of directors, such as Pheny Kalumbu and Petrus Kauluma, both northern businesspeople.”As you can see them here,” said Niiho gesturing over her shoulder, “they are older than me … I just respect them and follow their orders.”She said at one point Kauluma helped NBE obtain a contract in the building of the Pandu Cresta Lodge Hotel at Ondangwa.Kauluma together with NamPower MD, Dr Leake Hangala, owned 80 per cent of the hotel with the rest under businessman Haddis Tilahun of the United Africa Group.Niiho, who brought a briefcase and a suitcase on roller-blades, is expected to continue testifying today.The DBC was started to help integration former soldiers of the liberation war through training and job creation.MATTER OF FACTNamibia Bricks Enterprises was not the company which drilled boreholes on several farms of Cabinet ministers as the testimony from the public hearings implied on Monday.It was another DBC subsidiary specifically set up to do drilling.