The Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs rejected a N$480-million demand from a company implicated in the ongoing national fuel scandal.
Enercon Namibia demanded this after the government cancelled its contract to supply the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) with fuel.
This demand was made in April, while the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) was demanding N$380 million it was owed.
Dealings between Enercon and Namcor have so far led to the arrest of eight people in connection with charges of corrupt practices, money laundering, fraud, and other related crimes.
Those arrested include ex-Namcor managing director Imms Mulunga, former logistics manager Cornelius ‘Cedric’ Willemse, former commercial manager Olivia Dunaiski, former finance manager Jennifer Hamukwaya, and her husband, Panduleni Hamukwaya.
Yesterday, former Enercon Namibia shareholders Peter and Malakia Elindi were arrested.
Malakia’s wife was allegedly also arrested.
Enercon, which was liquidated last month, was owned by businessmen Austin Elindi and Victor Malima. The suspects are expected to appear in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court today.
Enercon Namibia was a joint venture between the Elindi brothers and defence ministry company August 26.
The defence ministry has in recent years questioned the partnership, saying it did not benefit the government, since it was paying retail prices and in some cases allegedly failed to deliver.
The defence ministry subsequently cancelled the supply agreement, but Enercon was not impressed with this decision.
Defence minister Frans Kapofi declined to comment when approached for comment yesterday.
Documents indicate that on 16 April this year, just days before being placed under provisional liquidation, Enercon sent a formal demand to the defence ministry, claiming N$484 million in losses due to the contract’s termination.
The demand includes projected costs for fuel never delivered, such as N$151 million for 12 million litres at military bases, N$120 million for the strategic reserve, and N$131 million in service bureau charges.
The company is also seeking N$49 million for infrastructure investments and over N$30 million for Jet A1 fuel and lubricants.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS
The agreement, signed in 2016 and amended in 2017, gave Enercon exclusive rights to supply the ministry with fuel.
Enercon’s lawyers said the ministry breached this exclusivity clause, plunging the company into financial collapse.
At the centre of the dispute is a tripartite setup: Enercon had a deal with Namcor to receive fuel on credit, which it would then supply to the defence ministry, mainly for military bases and strategic reserves.
But Enercon failed to pay Namcor, blaming the ministry for not settling its invoices.
Namcor took Enercon to court last year, seeking payment and liquidation. In a bid to stay afloat, Enercon appealed to the defence ministry and received N$60 million in February this year.
However, the funds were reportedly used to settle other debts and not Namcor’s.
This prompted Namcor to continue with its legal action.
To save the company from liquidation, Enercon sent a formal demand to the ministry in April, claiming N$480 million in losses from the contract’s termination.
Defence ministry spokesperson Petrus Shilumbu last month said the matter was referred to the Office of the Attorney General.
The fuel supply deal between Namcor and Enercon triggered Mulunga’s dismissal last year and is said to be central to the ongoing criminal investigation.
ARRESTS
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director general Paulus Noa has confirmed the arrest of eight suspects in the Namcor oil scandal.
“The number of arrested suspects is now eight. They all will be charged to appear before court,” he said yesterday.
This comes a day after Mulunga was arrested alongside Willemse and Hamukwaya.
Dunaiski is also alleged to be in ACC custody after she handed herself over.
Noa, however, did not confirm the identity of the two suspects whose “identity will be revealed once they appear in court,” he said.
Mulunga and his co-accused are facing charges of corrupt practices, money laundering, fraud, and other related crimes.
Noa says the commission has gathered concrete evidence against those implicated.
“We have been investigating until we reached the point where the evidence we gathered clearly implicates certain officials who were either previously with Namcor or are still employed there,” he told Desert FM yesterday.
“The accused will appear in court once the ACC has completed its investigations and all charges have been laid within 48 hours,” he said.
Sources say the ACC has tracked funds to a company related to the relative of a Namcor employee.
One suspect is said to have been investigated for money laundering in a case where they allegedly withdrew N$300 000 daily, while another suspect is being investigated for the payment of a vehicle from a Namcor beneficiary. Others are said to have transferred their assets into the names of their partners.
Enercon had a long-term agreement to supply the NDF with fuel and renovate its storage infrastructure controlled by businessmen Malima and Austin Elindi. They have denied any wrongdoing.
THE SUSPECTS
Hamukwaya currently serves as a board member at the Namibia Institute of Pathology Limited (NIP), following the end of her tenure at Namcor.
NIP chief executive officer Kapena Tjombonde yesterday confirmed Hamukwaya’s tenure and said the institution is currently en
gaging the relevant appointing authority to obtain further clarity on the matter.
“The NIP has taken note of recent media reports concerning Ms Jennifer Hamukwaya. The NIP remains committed to upholding due process,” she said.
Hamukwaya’s husband, Panduleni, is an environmentalist and serves as a programme coordinator of the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (Sasscal).
Hamukwaya also served as a director at Uukumwe Youth Empowerment Consortium that allows young people to participate in and benefit from Namibia’s fishing and marine industry through fishing rights and quota allocations system.
The company owns rights to harvest horse mackerel, tuna, swordfish, shark and Cape fur seal.
Willemse has been a managing partner at a company called BIP Container Terminals from 2018 until his arrest.
The company specialises in container storage, repairs, and refrigerated containers used for shipping, including to Ghana.
Willemse also served as general manager at Parkwood Petroleum and Logistics CC from 2016, where he was involved in transportation, storage, and communications for eight years.
From 2012 to 2015, he worked at Skorpion Zinc as a procurement and logistics manager.
Dunaiski was employed by Erongo Petroleum in 2023 prior to its liquidation as an executive for commercial sales and operations.
She and former Namcor employees were taken to court together with Enercon after Namcor launched an investigation after the company racked up N$120 million debt.
Dunaiski resigned on 8 September 2023 after Namcor enforced an investigation into transactions, including how she allegedly authorised without approval a transaction worth N$28 million to Erongo Petroleum CC.
Erongo Petroleum CC is owned by businessman Austin Elindi, who is also a shareholder in Enercon.
Documents from a court case involving United Africa Group confirmed Dunaiski’s job and shows that Erongo Petroleum owes United Africa Group over N$100 million for unpaid oil supplies.
When Erongo Petroleum failed to honour its debt, United Africa Group founder Haddis Tilahun started approaching clients, warning them not to do business with Erongo Petroleum, according to court documents.
The documents show that Erongo Petroleum then approached the court to stop United Africa Group’s founder from doing so.
The affidavit signed by Dunaiski was brought to court on 22 February.
STOLEN TRUCKS
Namcor has been implicated in several irregularities.
The Namibian reported last month that the police were investigating a potential large-scale fuel theft after 69 trucks dispatched from the state-owned corporation reportedly failed to deliver cargo to customers.
The value of the missing fuel has not been confirmed yet, but sources familiar with the case estimated losses of around N$49 million.
Namcor has confirmed that auditors flagged these transactions.
“Auditors were unable to match 69 trucks that left the national oil storage facility with the product,” Namcor spokesperson Utaara Hoveka said last year.
“In simple language, this means there was evidence of the trucks having left the national oil storage facility, but a lack of requisite evidence of the trucks having disposed or delivered product [sic] at customer sites.”
