Shortcuts cost Khomas Council

CORRUPTION allegations have surfaced at the Khomas Regional Council after a job worth millions was awarded after procedures were ignored.

As a result, the Council is now being asked to fork out around N$135 000 to pay for “services rendered” in planning for a conference that won’t take place. At the centre of the controversy is the Council’s Chief Regional Officer, Shikwetepo Haindongo, who is alleged to have offered a job contract to AZ Investment Holdings, an events organising company owned by Tonata Shiimi, in preparation for an International Governors’ and Mayors’ Conference, that was to take place during the first quarter of this year.Sources said that Haindongo appointed Tonata Shiimi on a N$2 million contract to organise the conference, without putting the job on tender.The Regional Authority Act states clearly that any job exceeding N$10 000 must be put out on tender.Haindongo is said to have disregarded the rule and to have given the job to AZ Investment Holdings without consulting colleagues.ABOUT-TURN “Due to time constraints, I brought in Shiimi to work on the project as an events organiser.He was expected to find out the complexity of the preparations and give us a framework of how the budget would look like,” Haindongo told The Namibian.Shiimi is said to have worked on the project for about two and a half months.During this period, someone allegedly told Haindongo that the deal might end up mired in controversy and could have negative consequences if it came out that he had not followed procedures in appointing AZ Investment Holdings.Haindongo immediately called for tenders and the job was granted to Hilda Basson-Namundjebo’s Oxygen Communications, another events co-ordinator.Oxygen tendered for N$1,4 million.Shiimi declined to comment on the tender controversy, referring The Namibian to the Khomas Regional Council instead.Basson-Namundjebo could not be reached at the time of going to press.Both companies billed the Regional Council “for services rendered” when the conference was postponed indefinitely.AZ Investment Holdings demands “management fees” of N$124 981 from the Council for communication, programme formulation, printing of conference materials, audio-visual equipment, 50 per cent of their staff salaries and data generated to set up a website.The Council has already paid a 30 per cent deposit (N$46 631) which left them with N$60 665,63 in outstanding “management fees”.Oxygen Communications, on the other hand, served a N$77 350 bill on the Council for website design, engineering and domain registration.The Council has already paid a deposit of N$21 000 and faces another account of N$56 350.Sources claim that Haindongo squandered thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money, as the Council ended up paying two companies for the same services.HAINDONGO HITS BACK Haindongo repudiated these allegations.He claims that Oxygen Communications did not need to start on the project from scratch.”The company that got the tender did not start to work on the project from the beginning.They simply continued to work from where Shiimi left off and both companies must be paid for the services they have rendered,” Haindongo said.It was not clear yesterday whether the Council intended taking any action against Haindongo.The Khomas Regional Council was slated to host a governors’ and mayors’ conference of African and Latin American states during the first quarter of this year.It was indefinitely postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances”.At the centre of the controversy is the Council’s Chief Regional Officer, Shikwetepo Haindongo, who is alleged to have offered a job contract to AZ Investment Holdings, an events organising company owned by Tonata Shiimi, in preparation for an International Governors’ and Mayors’ Conference, that was to take place during the first quarter of this year.Sources said that Haindongo appointed Tonata Shiimi on a N$2 million contract to organise the conference, without putting the job on tender.The Regional Authority Act states clearly that any job exceeding N$10 000 must be put out on tender.Haindongo is said to have disregarded the rule and to have given the job to AZ Investment Holdings without consulting colleagues.ABOUT-TURN “Due to time constraints, I brought in Shiimi to work on the project as an events organiser.He was expected to find out the complexity of the preparations and give us a framework of how the budget would look like,” Haindongo told The Namibian.Shiimi is said to have worked on the project for about two and a half months.During this period, someone allegedly told Haindongo that the deal might end up mired in controversy and could have negative consequences if it came out that he had not followed procedures in appointing AZ Investment Holdings.Haindongo immediately called for tenders and the job was granted to Hilda Basson-Namundjebo’s Oxygen Communications, another events co-ordinator.Oxygen tendered for N$1,4 million.Shiimi declined to comment on the tender controversy, referring The Namibian to the Khomas Regional Council instead.Basson-Namundjebo could not be reached at the time of going to press.Both companies billed the Regional Council “for services rendered” when the conference was postponed indefinitely.AZ Investment Holdings demands “management fees” of N$124 981 from the Council for communication, programme formulation, printing of conference materials, audio-visual equipment, 50 per cent of their staff salaries and data generated to set up a website.The Council has already paid a 30 per cent deposit (N$46 631) which left them with N$60 665,63 in outstanding “management fees”.Oxygen Communications, on the other hand, served a N$77 350 bill on the Council for website design, engineering and domain registration.The Council has already paid a deposit of N$21 000 and faces another account of N$56 350.Sources claim that Haindongo squandered thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money, as the Council ended up paying two companies for the same services.HAINDONGO HITS BACK Haindongo repudiated these allegations.He claims that Oxygen Communications did not need to start on the project from scratch.”The company that got the tender did not start to work on the project from the beginning.They simply continued to work from where Shiimi left off and both companies must be paid for the services they have rendered,” Haindongo said.It was not clear yesterday whether the Council intended taking any action against Haindongo.The Khomas Regional Council was slated to host a governors’ and mayors’ conference of African and Latin American states during the first quarter of this year.It was indefinitely postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances”.