Nevonga’s directorship at FNB remains unchanged

THE directorship of the general secretary of the Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) on the board of FNB Holdings Namibia remains intact despite his recusal from the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF).

As a GIPF trustee, Peter Nevonga was nominated to the FNB board as a non-executive director when the GIPF acquired shareholding in FNB through Swabou shares. One of his responsibilities was to report on how the GIPF’s shares performed before FNB was listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX). But now that FNB is a listed company, the monitoring and reporting of the performance of the shares is done through the NSX itself and does not have to be done through a director, said head of GIPF corporate communications Maria Dax.’Although initially proposed by GIPF to FNB, Mr Nevonga is a full board member of FNB with fiduciary duties as any other board member to the bank,’ said Dax. Nevonga has been a board member of GIPF since July 1 1997 as a Napwu-appointed trustee, and questions have been raised about his board sitting fees at the GIPF and FNB. But Dax commented that the FNB sitting allowances ought not to be a Napwu matter, since he was seconded by the GIPF. Although it could not be established with certainty what Nevonga’s sitting allowances at the GIPF have been over the years, a well-informed source said board sitting allowances range between N$350 000 and N$400 000 per year. ‘I don’t know where that figure came from,’ maintained Dax. What she did confirm is that the total trustee expenses – which include sitting allowances, travel, workshops, training, and so on – for the 2010 financial year for the nine trustees amounted to N$1 983 000. She said it would be a ‘tedious job’ to calculate Nevonga’s sitting allowances over the last 14 years, saying the finance department in the GIPF would not have time to compile the figures. The source further indicated that GIPF trustees are paid hourly, with meetings often stretching over long hours, and payments are made on a monthly basis. The hourly payment was confirmed by Dax. The GIPF annual report does not reflect the sitting allowances of its board of trustees, saying that the length of meetings of the board differ from meeting to meeting and from agenda to agenda. ‘What is important to note,’ said Dax, ‘is that every cent any trustee gets from GIPF can be accounted for. We have an attendance register for meetings and trustees are only paid for meetings attended. I can only say that each cent in terms of board fees that Mr Nevonga received from GIPF was paid in accordance with the time spent at these meetings.’ The 2010 report shows that there were 22 board meetings between April 2009 and March 2010. The various committees on which board members sit have equally been frequent. There were 15 technical committee meetings, five audit committee meetings, 13 investment committee meetings of which Nevonga is the chairperson, 11 human resource committee meetings, and 15 ‘other’ meetings.Board minutes and attendance registers are subject to auditing by external auditors. It is however also not clear to what extent Nevonga has been reporting to Napwu, which appointed him to the GIPF board. One of the two presidents of Napwu, Moses Ikanga, also said that Napwu has no policy on board participation.Ikanga would not say if Nevonga has been reporting on GIPF board matters to the union. The other Napwu president, Sarafina Kandere, who is currently a GIPF trustee, could also not say what the reporting structures are in this regard.