SONJA SMITHA FIRE station at Eenhana that was initially estimated to cost N$3 million in 2013, ended up costing the council N$5,8 million upon completion in 2017.
The then regional and local government ministry disbursed N$3 million each to the Eenhana, Outapi, Ondangwa and Khorixas town councils in 2013 for the construction of fire stations.
could not establish the final cost of the other fire stations built at the other three towns.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating how the cost of the fire station at Eenhana almost doubled within four years.
ACC chief public relations officer Josefina Nghituwamata told last week that the commission was investigating the cost of the fire station, and two other cases at Eenhana.
“As per your request, I am hereby confirming that there are more than three cases being investigated by the ACC with regards to the awarding of tenders at the Eenhana Town Council, which includes the alleged over-the-budgeted cost of the fire station tender.
“Investigations in all cases are ongoing. Hence, no further information is available at the moment. Once the investigation is concluded, the media will be informed accordingly,” Nghituwamata said.
The then ministry released N$3 million to the Eenhana Town Council in August 2013 for the design, tendering, supervision and construction of the fire station.
In a letter dated 21 October 2013, the former regional and local government permanent secretary, Sirkka Ausiku, informed the town councils that the ministry would send a team of technical experts, among them City of Windhoek officials, to inspect the proposed fire stations.
Documents reveal that three years after the ministry transferred the N$3 million, the town council again received another N$1,5 million to cover shortfalls on the project.
Again, five months later on 21 November 2017, the town council drafted a project close-out report to the ministry, explaining that the money was still not “sufficient to construct the fire station.
“The project has a shortfall of N$2 323 485,75, as the allocated budget was not sufficient to construct a fire station. Council will, therefore, face difficulty in fulfilling its other obligations and also paying the contractor’s retention should additional subsidies not be made available, as it has made use of its funds to complete the project,” the report reads.
Out of the N$5,8 million, N$799 528,46 was paid to the AIJ quantity surveyor, engineers and architectural company.
The town council’s procurement officer, Sandra Haimbili, referred queries to chief executive officer Walde Ndevashiya, saying she does not have the mandate to talk to the media.
Ndevashiya told that the delay to appoint an architect caused the over-budget costs.
“The ministry itself was supposed to appoint architects initially, but then we ended up doing it. Other factors are the exchange rates, and the materials used. You see, some of the materials used is not manufactured in Namibia, so we had to import from Germany,” he explained.
Ndevashiya, however, said he was not informed about the ACC investigations.
“It was never brought to my attention. Maybe they only informed you. As far as we are concerned, we have nothing to hide because everything regarding this project was above board,” he stressed.
Apart from the escalating costs, the ACC is also probing the appointment of Nikodemus Architectural Design as the principal agent.
Eenhana United Construction was the main contractor, while AIJ Project Cost Consultants were the quantity surveyors.
Erastus Nikodemus (47) owns Nikodemus Architectural Design company that also worked on fire stations at Helao Nafidi and Okahao for N$3 million each.
Speaking to The Namibian last week, Nikodemus said his company did not bid for the tender.
“As for us, we normally don’t go on tenders. I was just approached by the town council to do the job,” he said.
The ACC arrested Nikodemus in 2017 for defrauding the Ongwediva Town Council of N$3 million between 2009 and 2012.
The charges emanated from allegations that he had misled the Ongwediva Town Council when he claimed he was a certified architect.
Nicodemus appeared in court facing 21 counts of fraud, corruption, forgery and uttering, and was released on N$50 000 bail.
The ACC, is informed, is also investigating Mwaningange’s acquisition of various properties and vehicles since 2013.
Mwaningange’s resignation letter said he was leaving the procurement committee because he had observed that there was internal friction, which was causing “severe underperforming of my department in terms of capital projects’ implementation”.
