Now the ACC is looking at Haimbili

THE Anti-Corruption Commission is probing the operations of suspended TransNamib Chief Executive Officer Titus Haimbili.
ACC Director Paulus Noa confirmed yesterday that they had opened a file to investigate Haimbili but refused to divulge who laid the charges or what the scope of the investigation is.

‘We want to see whether there were any irregularities,’ is all Noa was willing to say.Well-placed sources said the ACC was asked by the TransNamib board to investigate whether there were any irregularities in Haimbili’s appointment of Albertus !Naruseb as General Manager of Human Resources.The board alleged earlier that Haimbili hadappointed him because he was his brother-in-law and that !Naruseb had leapfrogged other interviewees for the job.Haimbili denied the allegation and the recent disciplinary hearing by Clement Daniels found him not guilty on that charge.!Naruseb was part of a group of five new key staff members Haimbili had appointed. Others were the General Manager for Finance, the Company Legal Advisor, the General Manager for Marketing and the Chief of Corporate Communication. With the TransNamib Board questioning Haimbili’s powers to appoint, doubt was cast on the appointments of the other four staff members, including current acting CEO Mike Kavekotora, who is the GM of Marketing. Last month Cabinet instructed Transport Minister Helmut Angula to ensure that Haimbili is back at his desk.One source said it was yet another case to prove that ‘the Government seems to be leading the party’.’The party has directed the Government but what is stopping the Government from doing it? We thought the issue was simple and straightforward,’ the source said.Another source found it strange that TransNamib was only interested in investigating !Naruseb’s appointment when Haimbili had made four other executive appointments too.’One get the impression that there is a witch-hunt against !Naruseb and Haimbili,’ an employee said.Daniels recommended recently that Haimbili be dismissed after he was found guilty of acting outside the scope of his authority and his employment contract when he granted himself an interest-free study loan without submitting it to the board for approval.He was found not guilty on five other charges of fraud, corruption and nepotism.According to some sources, Daniels made the recommendation because of a ‘breakdown in trust’ between Haimbili and the board.Haimbili’s lawyers have written two letters to the Board, which were copied to the Prime Minister as well as Minister Helmut Angula, to give notice that they will appeal if the board approve the recommendation to dismiss him.He was accused of not seeking approval from the board for a study loan of 4 240 British pounds (around N$62 000).Haimbili took the loan at a time when the company had no board.He is claimed to have consulted at least two general managers on the issue. However, others argued that there should have been approval from a higher authority, as the general managers were his subordinates.Haimbili was put on two months’ ‘special leave’ in August before six charges were put to him in October. He has since been on paid leave.christof@namibian.com.na