I have amnesia sickness, claims ex-DBC manager

THE man who was at the helm of a parastatal turned free-for-all ‘enrichment scheme’, Simon Shikangala, finally made his long-awaited appearance before a presidential inquiry yesterday.

After taking the oath on the witness stand, the ailing Shikangala – general manager of the Development Brigade Corporation (DBC) from 1993 to 2002, immediately indicated that the Commission would struggle to get information from him when he suggested that he was suffering from amnesia. “You must excuse me, I have a sickness, I tend to forget things,” he pleaded to the Presidential Commission probing the activities of the defunct DBC and Amalgamated Commercial Holding (Amcom).”Don’t worry, Mr Shikangala, we have documents and testimonies from other people to [help] you respond to some of the things we want to know from you …you are not accused of anything, you are just a witness,” Commission chairperson, Petrus Unengu, assured him.Shikangala, who occasionally knocked on his head with his middle finger as he struggled with words, came under intense grilling from the Commission on several wayward activities within the DBC and its various subsidiaries.But the commissioners had to constantly remind him of the names of places, divisions with the DBC and his former surbordinates, as his purported loss of memory got the better of him.Shikangala told the Commission that he was appointed as head of the DBC by ex-Foreign Minister Hidipo Hamutenya after he had applied for a post of accountant.And, according to him, when he took over the DBC, it was already in a mess, “with everybody doing as they wanted.”When the Commission put to Shikangala revelations of a host of alleged corrupt practices which took place at the DBC and its subsidiaries, he claimed that he did not have control over the heads of the subsidiaries.”My friend, I think the general manager of DBC had no power to tell the subsidiaries what to do.I did not have the instruction to control these companies’ finances,” he stated.”DBC had no financial interest in the subsidiaries except only one …that they should do well.”Unengu then asked: “Mr Shikangala, as a holding company, why did DBC not have interest in the activities of your subsidiaries? You controlled all of them centrally, here in Windhoek.””No we never did that, maybe I have forgotten.Oh, maybe it is my head which is not functioning properly,” the witness responded, once again tapping his head.The Commission’s legal counsel, Eldorette Harmse, then demanded to know why DBC employees were supposedly given a free hand to either alienate company assets or use them for their private purposes.”Mr Shikangala, was this a company policy or just a practice which you invented?” she asked.”It happened so often that it’s difficult for me to say whether it was a policy or just a practice …in DBC terms I know what it was,” he answered.Unengu added: “For example, could heads of [DBC] divisions transfer assets from one centre to another without your consent?” The former GM declared: “That was not supposed to be like that, but things always happen, and you can only follow up if you are aware [of them].”He startled the commissioners when he revealed that he also benefited from the practice of using DBC assets for private purposes.”When I built my house at the village, there in Owamboland, I borrowed a water tank from the DBC, I used it and returned it when I finished,” he stated.”Did you pay [for the use of the tank]?” commissioner Festus Mbandeka asked.”Yes, I paid,” Shikangala said firmly.”Who set the price?” Harmse chipped in.But Shikangala seemed to take exception to her question, and responded with a frown: “They [the division responsible] set the price…please don’t try to make me feel I set the price.”Apart from financial problems, Shikangala cited political interference as one of the hindrances to the operations of the DBC.”It was all politics at the DBC …I have not seen any other parastatal which had a [Cabinet] steering committee,” he complained.The hearing continues today when Shikangala is expected to answer to a number of other allegations of corruption which led to the DBC’s collapse.”You must excuse me, I have a sickness, I tend to forget things,” he pleaded to the Presidential Commission probing the activities of the defunct DBC and Amalgamated Commercial Holding (Amcom).”Don’t worry, Mr Shikangala, we have documents and testimonies from other people to [help] you respond to some of the things we want to know from you …you are not accused of anything, you are just a witness,” Commission chairperson, Petrus Unengu, assured him.Shikangala, who occasionally knocked on his head with his middle finger as he struggled with words, came under intense grilling from the Commission on several wayward activities within the DBC and its various subsidiaries.But the commissioners had to constantly remind him of the names of places, divisions with the DBC and his former surbordinates, as his purported loss of memory got the better of him.Shikangala told the Commission that he was appointed as head of the DBC by ex-Foreign Minister Hidipo Hamutenya after he had applied for a post of accountant.And, according to him, when he took over the DBC, it was already in a mess, “with everybody doing as they wanted.”When the Commission put to Shikangala revelations of a host of alleged corrupt practices which took place at the DBC and its subsidiaries, he claimed that he did not have control over the heads of the subsidiaries.”My friend, I think the general manager of DBC had no power to tell the subsidiaries what to do.I did not have the instruction to control these companies’ finances,” he stated.”DBC had no financial interest in the subsidiaries except only one …that they should do well.”Unengu then asked: “Mr Shikangala, as a holding company, why did DBC not have interest in the activities of your subsidiaries? You controlled all of them centrally, here in Windhoek.””No we never did that, maybe I have forgotten.Oh, maybe it is my head which is not functioning properly,” the witness responded, once again tapping his head.The Commission’s legal counsel, Eldorette Harmse, then demanded to know why DBC employees were supposedly given a free hand to either alienate company assets or use them for their private purposes.”Mr Shikangala, was this a company policy or just a practice which you invented?” she asked.”It happened so often that it’s difficult for me to say whether it was a policy or just a practice …in DBC terms I know what it was,” he answered.Unengu added: “For example, could heads of [DBC] divisions transfer assets from one centre to another without your consent?” The former GM declared: “That was not supposed to be like that, but things always happen, and you can only follow up if you are aware [of them].”He startled the commissioners when he revealed that he also benefited from the practice of using DBC assets for private purposes.”When I built my house at the village, there in Owamboland, I borrowed a water tank from the DBC, I used it and returned it when I finished,” he stated.”Did you pay [for the use of the tank]?” commissioner Festus Mbandeka asked.”Yes, I paid,” Shikangala said firmly.”Who set the price?” Harmse chipped in.But Shikangala seemed to take exception to her question, and responded with a frown: “They [the division responsible] set the price…please don’t try to make me feel I set the price.”Apart from financial problems, Shikangala cited political interference as one of the hindrances to the operations of the DBC.”It was all politics at the DBC …I have not seen any other parastatal which had a [Cabinet] steering committee,” he complained.The hearing continues today when Shikangala is expected to answer to a number of other allegations of corruption which led to the DBC’s collapse.