PM meets embattled Agribank directors

PRIME Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab on Tuesday called an urgent meeting with the dismissed directors of Agribank, whose refusal to heed resignation orders from the Minister of Finance has led to a stand-off.

The spokesperson in the Office of the Prime Minister, Caroline Sitongo, yesterday confirmed the meeting, but quoted Gurirab as saying “what was discussed there is not for media consumption”. The Namibian understands that the Prime Minister wanted a first-hand account of the clash between Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and the directors.It is not clear, however, whether Gurirab will take the matter further.The Agribank directors declined to comment about the meeting.The meeting was called on the day that Cabinet was believed to have discussed and agreed to the appointment of new board members.In the meantime, the directors – Chairman Franz Stellmacher, Maureen Hinda, Connie Pandeni of the trade unions, and Alba Buehrmann, who is representing farmers – have refused to resign.They say acceding to the demand would be “a total disregard of the principles and spirit of corporate governance and the Agribank Act”.The fifth member of the board, Patricia Keeja, who was representing the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development was removed by Minister Helmut Angula.The refusal to resign will serve only as a matter of record as the Ministry, which oversees the Agribank parastatal, has already instructed management to cut dealings with the directors.Last week, the embattled directors issued a statement outlining the sequence of events that led to a souring of relations with Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.They point to interference by the Minister and blatant attempts since last year to prevent the board from appointing the chief executive officer.In March, according to the press statement, the board and the Ministry of Finance, under Nangolo Mbumba at the time, agreed on “a standing transparent procedure” of appointing the CEO.But in April, the new Finance Minister Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, “instructed” the board of directors to stop interviews because South African consultants were used in the recruitment process.At her insistence the post was re-advertised.Agribank involved a Namibian recruitment agency and had the Bank of Namibia, the Agronomic Board, Meat Board, the Namibian National Farmers’ Union (NNFU) on the interviewing panel.Hinda declared to the board and the Minister that she has applied to become CEO.But the Minister waited until after the board had made a choice from among three candidates, which included Hinda, before she complained that Hinda had not declared the interest “in writing”.The board said it obtained legal opinion, and advised the Minister that the verbal declaration of interest was deemed sufficient and should not be used to disqualify Hinda.”The Minister refused to give concurrence on the appointment of any of the three candidates and claimed that the interview procedures were not followed correctly,” said the statement.The post was re-advertised for a third time, and just as nine short-listed candidates were about to be interviewed, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila again blocked the recruitment, and requested that copies of the applicants’ CVs be forwarded to her.The statement said that at the end of last month, Deputy Minister of Finance, Clara Bohitile instructed Stellmacher that they must appoint the Deputy Minister of Lands, Isak Katali as acting CEO.But the board, after a meeting, wrote back saying Katali “was not suitable for the post as required by the Agribank Act”.This led to Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s demand that the directors resign immediately.The stand-off has meant that Agribank is now without a board of directors to rule on policy matters or a CEO to conduct the day-to-day administration of the financial institution.The Namibian understands that the Prime Minister wanted a first-hand account of the clash between Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and the directors.It is not clear, however, whether Gurirab will take the matter further.The Agribank directors declined to comment about the meeting.The meeting was called on the day that Cabinet was believed to have discussed and agreed to the appointment of new board members.In the meantime, the directors – Chairman Franz Stellmacher, Maureen Hinda, Connie Pandeni of the trade unions, and Alba Buehrmann, who is representing farmers – have refused to resign.They say acceding to the demand would be “a total disregard of the principles and spirit of corporate governance and the Agribank Act”.The fifth member of the board, Patricia Keeja, who was representing the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development was removed by Minister Helmut Angula.The refusal to resign will serve only as a matter of record as the Ministry, which oversees the Agribank parastatal, has already instructed management to cut dealings with the directors.Last week, the embattled directors issued a statement outlining the sequence of events that led to a souring of relations with Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.They point to interference by the Minister and blatant attempts since last year to prevent the board from appointing the chief executive officer.In March, according to the press statement, the board and the Ministry of Finance, under Nangolo Mbumba at the time, agreed on “a standing transparent procedure” of appointing the CEO.But in April, the new Finance Minister Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, “instructed” the board of directors to stop interviews because South African consultants were used in the recruitment process.At her insistence the post was re-advertised.Agribank involved a Namibian recruitment agency and had the Bank of Namibia, the Agronomic Board, Meat Board, the Namibian National Farmers’ Union (NNFU) on the interviewing panel.Hinda declared to the board and the Minister that she has applied to become CEO.But the Minister waited until after the board had made a choice from among three candidates, which included Hinda, before she complained that Hinda had not declared the interest “in writing”.The board said it obtained legal opinion, and advised the Minister that the verbal declaration of interest was deemed sufficient and should not be used to disqualify Hinda.”The Minister refused to give concurrence on the appointment of any of the three candidates and claimed that the interview procedures were not followed correctly,” said the statement.The post was re-advertised for a third time, and just as nine short-listed candidates were about to be interviewed, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila again blocked the recruitment, and requested that copies of the applicants’ CVs be forwarded to her.The statement said that at the end of last month, Deputy Minister of Finance, Clara Bohitile instructed Stellmacher that they must appoint the Deputy Minister of Lands, Isak Katali as acting CEO.But the board, after a meeting, wrote back saying Katali “was not suitable for the post as required by the Agribank Act”.This led to Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s demand that the directors resign immediately.The stand-off has meant that Agribank is now without a board of directors to rule on policy matters or a CEO to conduct the day-to-day administration of the financial institution.