NDC bosses to be fired

THE board of the Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) on Friday decided to fire its Managing Director, Abdool Aboobakar, and its Finance Manager, Addis Faul, for their role in investing N$55 million destined for development with the Offshore Development Company.

The board acted on the recommendation of a disciplinary committee, which said that the pair should be sacked. Aboobakar and Faul were found guilty of gross negligence and of having acted without board approval when they transferred NDC funds to the ODC for investment during 2003 and 2004.Aboobakar is also the CEO of the ODC.The two are expected to be informed of their fate today.Yesterday, NDC Board Chairperson John Nekwaya did not want to reveal the board’s decision, saying he would be better placed to do so today.However, a well-placed source indicated to The Namibian that the board had on Friday afternoon unanimously endorsed the recommendation of the disciplinary committee to sack Aboobakar and Faul.They are the first individuals to face the consequences of having contributed to a botched N$100 million investment of the ODC – not a cent of which has been returned to date.Meanwhile, The Namibian understands that the NDC board is still seriously considering taking legal steps against the ODC for the missing N$55 million.In their appeal, Aboobakar and Faul are believed to argue that the blame for the missing money should be placed at the ODC’s door, since the Ministry of Trade and Industry had ordered the ODC to take responsibility for all investment projects of the NDC from August 2004 and that N$78 million in NDC funds be transferred to the ODC.They allege that this amount included the N$55 million investment.The assets of the NDC are to be transferred to the Development Bank of Namibia once the company is finally shut down.Cabinet had originally ordered the NDC’s closure by December 2005, but the transfer of NDC projects to other ministries has kept its doors open longer than originally planned.WANT TO APPEAL Last week, Aboobakar and Faul lodged an appeal against the verdict of the disciplinary committee.An appeal panel will still have to be set up to decide whether the two have grounds to appeal the guilty verdict.Aboobakar and Faul were both found guilty of gross negligence, poor performance and exceeding their powers when they transferred millions destined for industrial projects to the ODC for investment.Aboobakar was additionally found guilty of dereliction of duties and function.Both men declined to testify in mitigation of the disciplinary committee’s decision last month.The disciplinary panel decided the pair should be dismissed.In reaching a verdict, the panel considered that both men had been employed in their respective positions for more than five years, during which time neither of them had caused any disciplinary problems.But the committee also noted that neither of them had showed remorse for their actions.The disciplinary committee also considered as an aggravating factor that given the nature of Aboobakar and Faul’s jobs, they had caused a breach of trust between themselves and their employer and that a continuation of their employment relationship had become impossible.”The misconduct for which the accused employees have been found guilty is very grave and prevalent in the Namibian workplace.[The] concerns of public interest that are very unfavourably disposed towards the misconduct of accused employees as well as [in the] interest of proper governance that demands that employees be dismissed,” noted the disciplinary committee in deciding on its verdict.’SUFFICIENTLY SERIOUS’ The disciplinary panel also took into account the NDC conditions of service disciplinary code according to which the offences Aboobakar and Faul have been found guilty of constitute the most serious instances of misconduct and which would make any sanction other than dismissal inappropriate.”The disciplinary committee is satisfied that the serious instances of misconduct were correctly proven against both accused employees, which disciplinary offences, having regard to the substantial merits of the case, involved dishonesty and disappearance of over N$55 million, hence are sufficiently serious and outweigh all mitigating circumstances regarding the accused employees taken into consideration by the disciplinary committee,” said the committee.They further concluded that each of the counts of misconduct that Aboobakar and Faul faced was serious enough to warrant dismissal.”The disciplinary committee recommends that it is for the good of the corporation to terminate the employment of both the accused employees due to several instances of misconduct for which they have been found guilty,” the committee recommended to the board.Aboobakar and Faul were found guilty of gross negligence and of having acted without board approval when they transferred NDC funds to the ODC for investment during 2003 and 2004.Aboobakar is also the CEO of the ODC.The two are expected to be informed of their fate today.Yesterday, NDC Board Chairperson John Nekwaya did not want to reveal the board’s decision, saying he would be better placed to do so today.However, a well-placed source indicated to The Namibian that the board had on Friday afternoon unanimously endorsed the recommendation of the disciplinary committee to sack Aboobakar and Faul.They are the first individuals to face the consequences of having contributed to a botched N$100 million investment of the ODC – not a cent of which has been returned to date.Meanwhile, The Namibian understands that the NDC board is still seriously considering taking legal steps against the ODC for the missing N$55 million. In their appeal, Aboobakar and Faul are believed to argue that the blame for the missing money should be placed at the ODC’s door, since the Ministry of Trade and Industry had ordered the ODC to take responsibility for all investment projects of the NDC from August 2004 and that N$78 million in NDC funds be transferred to the ODC.They allege that this amount included the N$55 million investment.The assets of the NDC are to be transferred to the Development Bank of Namibia once the company is finally shut down.Cabinet had originally ordered the NDC’s closure by December 2005, but the transfer of NDC projects to other ministries has kept its doors open longer than originally planned.WANT TO APPEAL Last week, Aboobakar and Faul lodged an appeal against the verdict of the disciplinary committee.An appeal panel will still have to be set up to decide whether the two have grounds to appeal the guilty verdict.Aboobakar and Faul were both found guilty of gross negligence, poor performance and exceeding their powers when they transferred millions destined for industrial projects to the ODC for investment.Aboobakar was additionally found guilty of dereliction of duties and function.Both men declined to testify in mitigation of the disciplinary committee’s decision last month.The disciplinary panel decided the pair should be dismissed.In reaching a verdict, the panel considered that both men had been employed in their respective positions for more than five years, during which time neither of them had caused any disciplinary problems.But the committee also noted that neither of them had showed remorse for their actions.The disciplinary committee also considered as an aggravating factor that given the nature of Aboobakar and Faul’s jobs, they had caused a breach of trust between themselves and their employer and that a continuation of their employment relationship had become impossible.”The misconduct for which the accused employees have been found guilty is very grave and prevalent in the Namibian workplace.[The] concerns of public interest that are very unfavourably disposed towards the misconduct of accused employees as well as [in the] interest of proper governance that demands that employees be dismissed,” noted the disciplinary committee in deciding on its verdict.’SUFFICIENTLY SERIOUS’ The disciplinary panel also took into account the NDC conditions of service disciplinary code according to which the offences Aboobakar and Faul have been found guilty of constitute the most serious instances of misconduct and which would make any sanction other than dismissal inappropriate.”The disciplinary committee is satisfied that the serious instances of misconduct were correctly proven against both accused employees, which disciplinary offences, having regard to the substantial merits of the case, involved dishonesty and disappearance of over N$55 million, hence are sufficiently serious and outweigh all mitigating circumstances regarding the accused employees taken into consideration by the disciplinary committee,” said the committee.They further concluded that each of the counts of misconduct that Aboobakar and Faul faced was serious enough to warrant dismissal.”The disciplinary committee recommends that it is for the good of the corporation to terminate the employment of both the accused employees due to several instances of misconduct for which they have been found guilty,” the committee recommended to the board.