Katti bought Kombat for N$50 million

Businessman Knowledge Katti bought the mining town of Kombat for N$50 million and has offered to sell the town to government for a whopping N$160 million, more than three times the price he paid for it.

BUSINESS mogul Knowledge Katti allegedly bought the mining town of Kombat for N$50 million.

The Namibian on Wednesday reported that Katti had offered to sell the town to the government for N$160 million, which is three times what he bought it for.

His lawyer Elia Shikongo however disputed this saying the government had in fact expressed interest first through its regional offices.

Shikongo further said there has been a lot of interest and proposals from investors and other entities in buying the town. Katti bought the town from Manila Investments, in which his company Havana Investments, and two others, Kombat Copper and Epangelo were shareholders.

Manila Investments bought the town from South African company Grove Mining that had in turn bought it from Weatherly Mining PLC. Some people have accused Katti, who was appointed a director of Canadian company Kombat Copper in 2014, of wanting to turn the mine and the town into separate entities. Shikongo, who did not respond to questions sent to him on Wednesday, stated in his previous email that his client is a private individual who is not subject to public disclosure as would be the case with public institutions.

“The details pertaining to his private acquisition of the town from a private entity is the subject matter of a concluded transaction and is treated as such,” said Shikongo.

He also said there is a difference between the preceding transaction relating to the mine, where Katti is a shareholder and the subsequent one involving the town currently owned by his client.

Katti tweeted that “The more the price, the more the people I will give free or affordable houses for the first time in Kombat. Fullstop”.

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