Report puts top TransNamib parastatal officials on spot

TRANSNAMIB Chief Executive Officer John Shaetonhodi threatened a staff member when tipped off about huge over-payments made by Human Resources General Manager Jason Hamunyela, to a company in which Hamunyela had interests.

This is revealed in a report of the Office of the Ombudsman, which has been tabled in the National Assembly. The report calls on the board of the transport parastatal to reprimand Shaetonhodi for not taking any steps when he was told about Hamunyela’s over-payments to GF Security, in which he had shares.It also urges the board to inform the CEO that his threat to the manager who blew the whistle was “out of place and uncalled for”.The Office of the Ombudsman swooped on TransNamib in May last year to investigate allegations of corruption, favouritism and nepotism against some of the parastatal’s top managers.Top of the list were allegations that Hamunyela had awarded a tender to a security company (GF Security), in which he had interests, and, on top of that, increased the amount after they were awarded the tender.The report said the investigators came across information related to correspondence between Hamunyela and GF Security prior to the final awarding of the tender and said that his conduct was “highly irregular”.The investigation found no proper documentary evidence and transparency existed at the company’s tender board on the awarding of the security tender and called for action against Hamunyela for not disclosing his interest in GF Security.In December 2004, The Namibian reported on a string of allegations levelled against TransNamib’s top management.These included favouritism in making appointments, a witch-hunt against senior managers and the dubious way in which the company coughed up more than N$75 000 for Shaetonhodi’s studies.The Office of the Ombudsman said company “policies or procedures were not observed by mainly a senior manager (Hamunyela)”.”This manager’s unprofessional conduct caused staff members to become disloyal and disheartened,” the report said.It said the paper trail was “extremely limited”, hindering efforts to check on whether the money for Shaetonhodi’s studies towards a master’s degree in business administration was approved by the board.It called on the TransNamib board to “launch their own investigation to determine whether or not the CEO obtained proper approval for his study grant; and obtained the degree he studied for”.They had to take appropriate action, if not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, the report said.When the investigation was launched last year, staff from the Office of the Ombudsman struggled for two days to enter TransNamib premises.They were stopped by Shaetonhodi who demanded, as head of the company, to know why they were there and who they were investigating.He eventually agreed to give the investigators access to the company’s offices and files.The report also calls on the board to review the selection and recruitment policies at TransNamib to make it “more transparent, clearly understandable and professional in content and appearance”.The report calls on the board of the transport parastatal to reprimand Shaetonhodi for not taking any steps when he was told about Hamunyela’s over-payments to GF Security, in which he had shares.It also urges the board to inform the CEO that his threat to the manager who blew the whistle was “out of place and uncalled for”.The Office of the Ombudsman swooped on TransNamib in May last year to investigate allegations of corruption, favouritism and nepotism against some of the parastatal’s top managers.Top of the list were allegations that Hamunyela had awarded a tender to a security company (GF Security), in which he had interests, and, on top of that, increased the amount after they were awarded the tender.The report said the investigators came across information related to correspondence between Hamunyela and GF Security prior to the final awarding of the tender and said that his conduct was “highly irregular”.The investigation found no proper documentary evidence and transparency existed at the company’s tender board on the awarding of the security tender and called for action against Hamunyela for not disclosing his interest in GF Security.In December 2004, The Namibian reported on a string of allegations levelled against TransNamib’s top management.These included favouritism in making appointments, a witch-hunt against senior managers and the dubious way in which the company coughed up more than N$75 000 for Shaetonhodi’s studies.The Office of the Ombudsman said company “policies or procedures were not observed by mainly a senior manager (Hamunyela)”.”This manager’s unprofessional conduct caused staff members to become disloyal and disheartened,” the report said.It said the paper trail was “extremely limited”, hindering efforts to check on whether the money for Shaetonhodi’s studies towards a master’s degree in business administration was approved by the board.It called on the TransNamib board to “launch their own investigation to determine whether or not the CEO obtained proper approval for his study grant; and obtained the degree he studied for”.They had to take appropriate action, if not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, the report said.When the investigation was launched last year, staff from the Office of the Ombudsman struggled for two days to enter TransNamib premises.They were stopped by Shaetonhodi who demanded, as head of the company, to know why they were there and who they were investigating.He eventually agreed to give the investigators access to the company’s offices and files.The report also calls on the board to review the selection and recruitment policies at TransNamib to make it “more transparent, clearly understandable and professional in content and appearance”.