Rotten food aid cover-up

FOOD allocated to the food-for-work programme in the Karas Region was “forgotten” in a warehouse for close to four years and then quietly buried just more than a week ago.

The Karas Regional Council, which was supposed to supervise the food-for-work programme, says it was unaware of the maize meal, canned fish and dried beans stored in the old Metje & Ziegler building in Keetmanshoop. At least 500 12,5 kg bags of maize meal with an estimated value of N$20 000 were declared contaminated after officials of the Food Security Secretariat visited the region last year to assess the programme, Regional Governor Dawid Boois told The Namibian on Tuesday.The spoilt bags of maize meal were buried in hush-hush fashion seven kilometres outside Keetmanshoop more than a week ago.Boois said laboratory tests had confirmed that the canned fish and dried beans were fit for human consumption, and they have been transferred to the region’s drought-relief programme.”We only became aware of the rotten food stored in an unfamiliar warehouse after the line ministry’s (Local Government) Food Secretariat officials informed our office in November last year,” Boois told The Namibian.He said his office was only responsible for administering the drought-relief programme, and the Regional Rural Development Planner, Absalom Naseb, single-handedly ran the food-for-work programme.”We at the Regional Council were in the dark about the food-for-work programme, since all reports concerning the programme were forwarded to the Food Secretariat by the Regional Rural Development Planner,” Boois said.He said the Karas Regional Council’s Director of Planning, Ben Rukamba, was heading an investigation to determine who, if anyone, had been responsible for letting the food go to waste.He would not reveal any details about the investigation, and referred The Namibian to Rukamba and the Ministry of Local and Regional Government, Housing and Rural Development.Attempts by The Namibian to get comment from Rukamba yesterday proved futile.According to Boois, the Karas Regional Council only became aware last year that the food-for-work programme had been decentralised in 1998 – meaning that the Council had been responsible for the programme for at least six years.But the Deputy Director of Local and Regional Government and Housing, Manfred Minjingua, disagrees.He said yesterday that all Regional Councils had been instructed “long ago” to supervise the food-for-work programme.The Karas Chief Regional Officer should have administered the programme, he said.”As custodians they must equally be held accountable on grounds that are tantamount to food sabotage,” he said angrily.”Because of a lack of supervision on the part of the council as custodian, the official tasked with the distribution of the food was given leeway to do whatever he wanted to do,” he added.”Visionless planning” was at the root of this kind of problem, Minjingua charged.”People are placed in positions they have no idea about.That results in visionless planning tendencies at councils,” he said.Minjingua said the council had to face the music, as was the case with the Caprivi Regional Council.The Keetmanshoop Municipality’s Health Inspector, Fanus Coetzee, on Tuesday confirmed that the municipality had made earthmovers available to the Regional Council for digging trenches to bury the maize meal.He said the work had been scheduled for last Monday to avoid overtime payments, but Regional Rural Development Planner Absalom Naseb went ahead with it on Saturday afternoon.”I was supposed to oversee the condemnation of the spoilt food, but was informed on Monday that the job had already been finished on Saturday,” Coetzee said.Naseb denied any knowledge of the rotten food when approached by The Namibian on Tuesday.At least 500 12,5 kg bags of maize meal with an estimated value of N$20 000 were declared contaminated after officials of the Food Security Secretariat visited the region last year to assess the programme, Regional Governor Dawid Boois told The Namibian on Tuesday.The spoilt bags of maize meal were buried in hush-hush fashion seven kilometres outside Keetmanshoop more than a week ago.Boois said laboratory tests had confirmed that the canned fish and dried beans were fit for human consumption, and they have been transferred to the region’s drought-relief programme.”We only became aware of the rotten food stored in an unfamiliar warehouse after the line ministry’s (Local Government) Food Secretariat officials informed our office in November last year,” Boois told The Namibian. He said his office was only responsible for administering the drought-relief programme, and the Regional Rural Development Planner, Absalom Naseb, single-handedly ran the food-for-work programme.”We at the Regional Council were in the dark about the food-for-work programme, since all reports concerning the programme were forwarded to the Food Secretariat by the Regional Rural Development Planner,” Boois said.He said the Karas Regional Council’s Director of Planning, Ben Rukamba, was heading an investigation to determine who, if anyone, had been responsible for letting the food go to waste.He would not reveal any details about the investigation, and referred The Namibian to Rukamba and the Ministry of Local and Regional Government, Housing and Rural Development.Attempts by The Namibian to get comment from Rukamba yesterday proved futile.According to Boois, the Karas Regional Council only became aware last year that the food-for-work programme had been decentralised in 1998 – meaning that the Council had been responsible for the programme for at least six years.But the Deputy Director of Local and Regional Government and Housing, Manfred Minjingua, disagrees.He said yesterday that all Regional Councils had been instructed “long ago” to supervise the food-for-work programme.The Karas Chief Regional Officer should have administered the programme, he said.”As custodians they must equally be held accountable on grounds that are tantamount to food sabotage,” he said angrily.”Because of a lack of supervision on the part of the council as custodian, the official tasked with the distribution of the food was given leeway to do whatever he wanted to do,” he added.”Visionless planning” was at the root of this kind of problem, Minjingua charged.”People are placed in positions they have no idea about.That results in visionless planning tendencies at councils,” he said.Minjingua said the council had to face the music, as was the case with the Caprivi Regional Council.The Keetmanshoop Municipality’s Health Inspector, Fanus Coetzee, on Tuesday confirmed that the municipality had made earthmovers available to the Regional Council for digging trenches to bury the maize meal.He said the work had been scheduled for last Monday to avoid overtime payments, but Regional Rural Development Planner Absalom Naseb went ahead with it on Saturday afternoon.”I was supposed to oversee the condemnation of the spoilt food, but was informed on Monday that the job had already been finished on Saturday,” Coetzee said.Naseb denied any knowledge of the rotten food when approached by The Namibian on Tuesday.