Namcor urges patience on N$100m transaction

The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) has urged the media and the public to be patient as it will not disclose additional information concerning a N$100-million payment to Sungara Energies for two Angolan oil blocks.

The Namibian in March reported that the petroleum company paid N$100 million to Sungara Energies, a London-based company which Namcor, Petrolog Energies and Sequa Petroleum UK jointly own.

The consortium was supposed to pay N$400 million (US$22,6 million) as a deposit fee to Sonangol Petroleum within five business days after receiving the conditions of the transaction.

Namcor agreed to pay US$10 million (N$170 million) towards the deposit.

However, the partners only paid US$6 million (N$102 million), leaving a shortfall of US$6,7 million (N$100 million).

The Namibian reported that Namcor was investigating its suspended managing director, Immanuel Mulunga, over his involvement in the payment of money to Sungara Energies.

The money was paid without the blessing of the Namcor board.

In a statement yesterday, the Namcor board said all parties are working together to bring the issue “to its logical close”, which is expected to be finalised this year.

“Namcor would like to request the media and the Namibian nation at large to be cognisant of the commercially sensitive disposition of transactions of this nature, and to remain patient to allow for a smooth completion of the transaction,” the board said in the statement. Namcor said that it remains committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate governance and adhering to all legal and regulatory requirements.

The Namibian in April reported that a report compiled for the Namcor board suggested that Sequa Petroleum, which is part of a joint venture with Namcor, is questionable.

The South African corporate and commercial law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, which compiled the report for the Namcor board, believes Sequa’s hands are not clean in respect of the transfer of funds from Sungara to Sonangol.

This is because Sequa Petroleum’s founder, Jacob Broekhuijsen, has refused to assist the law firm in the investigation which led to this report.

“We understand that Sequa is responsible for managing the finances of Sungara … “His failure or refusal to assist in this investigation leads us to conclude that Sequa has not acted with clean hands in respect of the transfer of the funds from Sungara to Sonangol,” the report read.