Oops! DBC cheque for N$2 852 becomes N$285 297

THE interim board responsible for winding up the failed Development Brigade Corporation signed a cheque for N$285 297,27 instead of N$2 852,97 for work that has not yet been done.

The cheque was written out just three weeks ago. Interim Board Chairman Munu Kuyonisa and Secretary to the Board Ismael Ganaseb were left clutching at straws when they were called to explain the situation to the presidential commission of inquiry in Windhoek yesterday.The pair tried to pass off the situation as human error, but the inquiry would have none of that since the amount in figures and that in words correspond on the cheque made out to New Market Agencies.The close corporation with a Windhoek address on its invoice was given the go-ahead to repair a sewerage pipe on a DBC poultry farm at Okatope.Kuyonisa said when the cheque was brought to him for his signature, he only concentrated on the figure written on the requisition form and did not pick up the error.”The only explanation is that I did not check the amount on the cheque itself,” said Kuyonisa, passing the buck to Ganaseb, who he said wrote out the cheque.But Ganaseb, who is a transport officer employed at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, was also at a loss for words.”I really don’t know what has happened here.I don’t know what I was thinking,” he maintained.”I was busy with a lot of things.”Ganaseb, who has been the board secretary since 2002, explained that when it came to writing out cheques, he usually first wrote the amount in figures before completing the cheque in words.”Sometimes we make mistakes.I also make mistakes,” said Ganaseb.But the commission said it could not accept the huge difference in the amount.”You did not make a mistake,” said Commission Chairperson Petrus Unengu.”Can you recall whether you were sober?” The commission said there were too many “coincidental” factors that did not add up.According to Ganaseb, the cheque written out on October 15 for an invoice dated October 13 was stopped by the bank, and the board did not issue another one.Ganaseb said he was not given a reason for not writing out another cheque, but suspected that Kuyonisa was “afraid of the amount”.Ganaseb also told the commission that the “urgent” work on the sewerage system had not yet been done.He maintained that because of the DBC’s precarious financial situation, many service providers expected to be paid in advance.The commission said it called into question how “urgent” the matter really was after Kuyonisa said the board agreed to forgo the usual procedure of obtaining three quotations for a service.Kuyonisa could also not explain to the commission why it chose a business that appeared to be based in Windhoek for work to be done at Okatope.”How on earth is it that a close corporation can repair a pipe that has burst? What kind of CC is this?” asked Unengu.But Kuyonisa drew a blank, saying he did not know the business owners and that it was left up to the workers at the farm to get quotations to deal with the problem.The commission said it could not understand why, if the repairs were so urgent, the board did not enlist another company to carry out the work.Both Kuyonisa and Ganaseb were told that the commission required more information to get to the bottom of the issue, and that they might be recalled at a later date to continue their testimony on the matter.Interim Board Chairman Munu Kuyonisa and Secretary to the Board Ismael Ganaseb were left clutching at straws when they were called to explain the situation to the presidential commission of inquiry in Windhoek yesterday.The pair tried to pass off the situation as human error, but the inquiry would have none of that since the amount in figures and that in words correspond on the cheque made out to New Market Agencies.The close corporation with a Windhoek address on its invoice was given the go-ahead to repair a sewerage pipe on a DBC poultry farm at Okatope.Kuyonisa said when the cheque was brought to him for his signature, he only concentrated on the figure written on the requisition form and did not pick up the error.”The only explanation is that I did not check the amount on the cheque itself,” said Kuyonisa, passing the buck to Ganaseb, who he said wrote out the cheque.But Ganaseb, who is a transport officer employed at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, was also at a loss for words.”I really don’t know what has happened here.I don’t know what I was thinking,” he maintained.”I was busy with a lot of things.”Ganaseb, who has been the board secretary since 2002, explained that when it came to writing out cheques, he usually first wrote the amount in figures before completing the cheque in words.”Sometimes we make mistakes.I also make mistakes,” said Ganaseb.But the commission said it could not accept the huge difference in the amount.”You did not make a mistake,” said Commission Chairperson Petrus Unengu.”Can you recall whether you were sober?” The commission said there were too many “coincidental” factors that did not add up.According to Ganaseb, the cheque written out on October 15 for an invoice dated October 13 was stopped by the bank, and the board did not issue another one.Ganaseb said he was not given a reason for not writing out another cheque, but suspected that Kuyonisa was “afraid of the amount”.Ganaseb also told the commission that the “urgent” work on the sewerage system had not yet been done.He maintained that because of the DBC’s precarious financial situation, many service providers expected to be paid in advance.The commission said it called into question how “urgent” the matter really was after Kuyonisa said the board agreed to forgo the usual procedure of obtaining three quotations for a service.Kuyonisa could also not explain to the commission why it chose a business that appeared to be based in Windhoek for work to be done at Okatope.”How on earth is it that a close corporation can repair a pipe that has burst? What kind of CC is this?” asked Unengu.But Kuyonisa drew a blank, saying he did not know the business owners and that it was left up to the workers at the farm to get quotations to deal with the problem.The commission said it could not understand why, if the repairs were so urgent, the board did not enlist another company to carry out the work.Both Kuyonisa and Ganaseb were told that the commission required more information to get to the bottom of the issue, and that they might be recalled at a later date to continue their testimony on the matter.