THE National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) board has resolved to suspend the account belonging to CCC Petroleum cc which owes the parastatal N$19 million in fuel products.
Namcor entered into an agreement with CCC Petroleum last year to co-operate the national fuel storage facility at Walvis Bay. At the time, CCC Petroleum was owned by Cornelius Cedric Willemse and his wife, Cheryl.
Willemse is a Namcor consultant who was fired in 2016 but reinstated last year.
The chairperson of the Namcor board, Engelhardt Kongoro, confirmed to The Namibian that the board resolved to suspend the ongoing business activities with CCC Petroleum.
Kongoro also said the board was looking into the termination of Willemse’s contract as a consultant as per the section of the Procurement Act, which was not followed to appoint him.
“Yes, the contract that went up to N$19 million has been suspended and as the board, we are responding to the issues pertaining to the allegations that were discussed in the meeting with the minister,” Kongoro said.
The board questioned how an account with a limit of buying products up to N$350, 000, could be allowed to go up to N$19 million.
It is understood that when CCC Petroleum reached their credit limit, approvals were given by Namcor managing director Immanuel Mulunga and the finance department to continue supplying funds to them.
understands that following board intervention, an amount close to N$6 million was paid to Namcor, supposedly by CCC Petroleum to offset their N$19 million debt.
The contract, sources said, allowed CCC Petroleum to receive 20 cents a litre as storage and handling fees for every litre sold by Namcor through Willemse’s CCC Petroleum at Walvis Bay.
Insiders say that at a Namcor board meeting earlier in the year, management also resolved that Willemse’s consultancy contract should not be extended after it expires in May 2020. Willemse’s contract was, however, extended.
This, Kongoro said, is something the board is looking into.
The decisions to suspend the account come after reported in May this year that Namcor had reinstated Willemse, whose contract was terminated four years ago following alleged irregularities.
Mulunga declined to respond to detailed questions sent to him by in April, while Willemse threatened to sue for the story, instructing his lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, to address media questions instead.
Metcalfe denied that his client’s employment at Namcor was done without full compliance with procurement procedures.
“His appointment followed full compliance with the Public Procurement Act by Namcor and was a transparent appointment done after consultation with the chairman of the board of directors, Namcor and the minister of mines and energy as a result of our client’s expertise,” he said at the time.
Thereafter, minister of mines and energy Tom Alweendo contacted to say he had no knowledge of the reappointment of Willemse at Namcor, who would cost the parastatal N$1, 3 million per year.
“I just read your article on Namcor. The lawyer’s response that Willemse was appointed with my knowledge is not true. I was not consulted by anyone nor was I required to be consulted on such an appointment.”
Last week, Alweendo said he is aware of the debt by CCC Petroleum as well as other companies but he was not in a position to speak thoroughly on it as Namcor no longer reports to him.
Jooste this week confirmed to The Namibian the move by the board.
“The contract is terminated. This was a board decision after I shared the complaints from an anonymous source making related allegations.
“I am also aware of various outstanding debtors and have asked the board chairperson to find a solution as soon as practical,” Jooste said.
The contract by Namcor to CCC Petroleum was awarded in August 2019, a month after Willemse was reinstated at the national oil company as a consultant.
Records from the Business and Intellectual Property Authority of Namibia (Bipa) shows that the company was registered in 2015 but amended in 2017 with two new members, including Mesag and Taleni Mikka.
The latest founding statement of the company now reveals that the company’s ownership was again changed on 15 May 2020, a week after reported about Willemse’s return to Namcor.
Willemse, his wife, and their partners relinquished their shares in the company to new owner Warren Lionel Ockhuys who now owns it 100%.
One of the questions The Namibian asked Ockhuys was whether he had inherited the debt that came from previous owners.
The previous board — led by Patrick Kauta — terminated Willemse’s contract in December 2016 despite objection from Mulunga.
The Namibian reported in February 2017 that the Willemse-Mulunga friendship was one of the reasons that caused a clash between Namcor’s boss and Kauta.
