Missing ODC money haunts NA

THE Ministry of Trade and Energy was still in hot pursuit of the missing N$100 million from the Offshore Development Company (ODC), according to Deputy Minister Bernhard Esau.

Esau said in Parliament yesterday that the success in finding it depended on the “thoroughness of the criminal investigations”. In response to a question by CoD President Ben Ulenga on whether any progress had been made in tracing the money, Esau was vague.He said he wanted to believe “that there are prospects for at least some recovery to be made due to the ongoing actions”.Ulenga also wanted to know whether it was true that Tony Buckingham of mercenary fame had once been an ODC director.Buckingham was the co-owner of Executive Outcomes, a private mercenary outfit, which was linked to a Namibian gemstone outfit, Indigo Sky Gems.The manager of Indigo Sky Gems, Russell Hay, was once a director of ODC.The Deputy Trade Minister could only tell Ulenga that “from the records of ODC, a share capital of N$1,3 million was made into the ODC by Branch Energy, which was later named Branch Minerals Ltd.This party was one of the private shareholders in ODC between 1997 and 2001 and Anthony Leslie Rowland Buckingham was its director.”Ulenga also asked the Deputy Minister if the Namibian Government possibly feared that the missing ODC millions had been used by Executive Outcomes “to buy weapons for coups in Africa or elsewhere.”Ulenga noted that the mercenary company this year attempted to buy weapons in Zimbabwe to stage a coup in Equatorial Guinea.Deputy Minister Esau could only say: “I have no further details on the hows and whys of the involvement of this entity and this individual (Buckingham) in the ODC, nor facts about the alleged mercenary connections.”Esau added that he was aware that the ODC was busy taking legal action against “parties it identified to have directly or indirectly contributed to or aided the loss of the N$100 million investment”.In response to a question by CoD President Ben Ulenga on whether any progress had been made in tracing the money, Esau was vague.He said he wanted to believe “that there are prospects for at least some recovery to be made due to the ongoing actions”.Ulenga also wanted to know whether it was true that Tony Buckingham of mercenary fame had once been an ODC director.Buckingham was the co-owner of Executive Outcomes, a private mercenary outfit, which was linked to a Namibian gemstone outfit, Indigo Sky Gems.The manager of Indigo Sky Gems, Russell Hay, was once a director of ODC.The Deputy Trade Minister could only tell Ulenga that “from the records of ODC, a share capital of N$1,3 million was made into the ODC by Branch Energy, which was later named Branch Minerals Ltd.This party was one of the private shareholders in ODC between 1997 and 2001 and Anthony Leslie Rowland Buckingham was its director.”Ulenga also asked the Deputy Minister if the Namibian Government possibly feared that the missing ODC millions had been used by Executive Outcomes “to buy weapons for coups in Africa or elsewhere.”Ulenga noted that the mercenary company this year attempted to buy weapons in Zimbabwe to stage a coup in Equatorial Guinea.Deputy Minister Esau could only say: “I have no further details on the hows and whys of the involvement of this entity and this individual (Buckingham) in the ODC, nor facts about the alleged mercenary connections.”Esau added that he was aware that the ODC was busy taking legal action against “parties it identified to have directly or indirectly contributed to or aided the loss of the N$100 million investment”.