Disunity takes Witvlei abattoir to the edge

DISAGREEMENT between directors of the !Uri!Khubis Abattoir at Witvlei is hampering efforts to revive the black economic empowerment entity as it teeters on the brink of liquidation, The Namibian has established.

Gripped by a financial crisis that brought its operations to a standstill in October, the abattoir failed to pay salaries last month. A series of interviews with various stakeholders has revealed that the shareholders are seriously divided over strategies to turn around its ailing financial fortunes.Some directors have been pushing for the company to be put into provisional liquidation, while others are opposed to the idea because they apparently feel it would not be in the interests of all stakeholders.The Vice Chairman of the !Uri!Khubis Board, Kapanda Marenga, yesterday played down the division between the directors and stated that only a “minority group” of shareholders wanted the company to be liquidated.”For the company to be liquidated you need at least 75 per cent of the shareholders, but in our case 65 per cent are already opposed to the idea because it will lead to retrenchment of workers,” he said.”We [the Board] had to respect the decision of the majority, and we are united and pulling in the same direction.”Marenga’s assertion contrasts sharply with his own statement at a meeting with the company’s managers and workers’ representatives on June 1:that the !Uri!Khubis Board “are different people with different interests.”His remarks about the division were confirmed on Wednesday by one of the abattoir’s directors, Coen Wium, in a detailed memorandum from the employees in which they sought clarification from him about their May salaries and the company’s future.Wium wrote:”All of us have been aware of the unfortunate situation that the Board of Directors of !Uri!Khubis is split to such an extent that it has hampered progress… mistrust amongst Directors has created this unfortunate situation.”Documents in The Namibian’s possession indicate that on April 30 the !Uri!Khubis Board unanimously resolved to put the company into provisional liquidation if funds for the May salaries could not be secured by May 7.However, some directors allegedly reneged on the decision later.Marenga refused to comment on that alleged Board resolution because, according to him, it was supposed to be “confidential information”.The !Uri!Khubis vice chairman now seems to be pinning all his hopes on the Due Diligence Assessment of the operations of the company which is being conducted by auditing firm KPMG.Marenga, who accused unnamed people of a lack of interest in the welfare of the Omaheke community, was confident that after the investigation’s findings come out next week, the company’s financiers will make funds available so it can resume normal operations.But a sceptical Wium argued that: “Whatever KPMG finds and recommends will need to be dealt with by persons who understand business and have integrity”.He suggested that the only way to revive the company was for the financiers and creditors to take control so that the Board would be “neutralised” in the interest of all stakeholders.The !Uri!Khubis project was started with N$38 million from AgriBank, N$5 million from the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) and a further NS$4 million from Namibia Harvest Investments.The spotlight fell on the abattoir’s financial troubles earlier this year following relentless threats by communal farmers in the Omaheke Region that they would demonstrate against alleged “unfair practices and mismanagement” at the company.The communal farmers hold 30 per cent of the shares in the company through the Omaheke Communal Farmers Investment Trust, but according to them, they have yet to benefit from it.The Due Diligence Assessment was apparently instituted at the insistence of the communal farmers.Meanwhile, representatives of the company’s employees, who claimed that their directors were avoiding them, were due to meet the Governor of Omaheke, Laura McLeod, yesterday before deciding on what action to take.A series of interviews with various stakeholders has revealed that the shareholders are seriously divided over strategies to turn around its ailing financial fortunes.Some directors have been pushing for the company to be put into provisional liquidation, while others are opposed to the idea because they apparently feel it would not be in the interests of all stakeholders.The Vice Chairman of the !Uri!Khubis Board, Kapanda Marenga, yesterday played down the division between the directors and stated that only a “minority group” of shareholders wanted the company to be liquidated.”For the company to be liquidated you need at least 75 per cent of the shareholders, but in our case 65 per cent are already opposed to the idea because it will lead to retrenchment of workers,” he said.”We [the Board] had to respect the decision of the majority, and we are united and pulling in the same direction.”Marenga’s assertion contrasts sharply with his own statement at a meeting with the company’s managers and workers’ representatives on June 1:that the !Uri!Khubis Board “are different people with different interests.”His remarks about the division were confirmed on Wednesday by one of the abattoir’s directors, Coen Wium, in a detailed memorandum from the employees in which they sought clarification from him about their May salaries and the company’s future.Wium wrote:”All of us have been aware of the unfortunate situation that the Board of Directors of !Uri!Khubis is split to such an extent that it has hampered progress… mistrust amongst Directors has created this unfortunate situation.”Documents in The Namibian’s possession indicate that on April 30 the !Uri!Khubis Board unanimously resolved to put the company into provisional liquidation if funds for the May salaries could not be secured by May 7.However, some directors allegedly reneged on the decision later.Marenga refused to comment on that alleged Board resolution because, according to him, it was supposed to be “confidential information”.The !Uri!Khubis vice chairman now seems to be pinning all his hopes on the Due Diligence Assessment of the operations of the company which is being conducted by auditing firm KPMG.Marenga, who accused unnamed people of a lack of interest in the welfare of the Omaheke community, was confident that after the investigation’s findings come out next week, the company’s financiers will make funds available so it can resume normal operations.But a sceptical Wium argued that: “Whatever KPMG finds and recommends will need to be dealt with by persons who understand business and have integrity”.He suggested that the only way to revive the company was for the financiers and creditors to take control so that the Board would be “neutralised” in the interest of all stakeholders.The !Uri!Khubis project was started with N$38 million from AgriBank, N$5 million from the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) and a further NS$4 million from Namibia Harvest Investments.The spotlight fell on the abattoir’s financial troubles earlier this year following relentless threats by communal farmers in the Omaheke Region that they would demonstrate against alleged “unfair practices and mismanagement” at the company.The communal farmers hold 30 per cent of the shares in the company through the Omaheke Communal Farmers Investment Trust, but according to them, they have yet to benefit from it.The Due Diligence Assessment was apparently instituted at the insistence of the communal farmers.Meanwhile, representatives of the company’s employees, who claimed that their directors were avoiding them, were due to meet the Governor of Omaheke, Laura McLeod, yesterday before deciding on what action to take.