SPYL puts Kapia ‘on leave’

THE political career of Swapo Party Youth League Secretary Paulus Kapia has received the latest in a series of blows, with a decision that he will have to take a month’s leave from his post as leader of the party’s youth wing.

In a move that mirrors a step that culminated in his resignation as Deputy Minister of Works, Transport and Communication two weeks ago, Kapia has taken leave from his post as Youth League Secretary following a meeting of the organisation’s Central Committee during the weekend. AVID ISSUE DOMINANT The meeting was dominated by a discussion of the Youth League’s involvement in the provisionally liquidated Avid Investment Corporation, of which Kapia had been a director, and the N$30 million investment deal between Avid and the Social Security Commission that has gone badly off the rails, a source indicated yesterday.The Youth League will make an official announcement today on the decisions taken by the Central Committee at Saturday’s meeting, the League’s Secretary for Information, Publicity and Mobilisation, Elijah Ngurare, said yesterday.However, he declined to reveal in the meantime what those decisions are.Kapia himself said yesterday that the Central Committee decided to grant him leave from his position as Secretary for a month, starting from today.He told The Namibian that this would be so that the Youth League could ascertain the situation with regard to its involvement in Avid and the SSC-Avid investment deal, “which is a good thing, for Swapo Party to ascertain the situation”.A source who attended Saturday’s meeting reported that the major part of it was taken up by a discussion of how the Youth League’s name was used, or claimed to have been used, in connection with the investment deal between the SSC and Avid.According to evidence that surfaced in the High Court during a Companies Act inquiry into the investment, politically tinged pressure was put on the SSC’s top management.It was told, at a stage when Avid was still trying to persuade the SSC to invest money through the company, that the Youth League had a major stake in Avid.This claim is supposed to have helped persuade the SSC to invest money with the untested asset management company.The inquiry also heard evidence from Avid’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, the late Lazarus Kandara, that the Youth League was supposed to hold 10 per cent of the shareholding in the company.The Youth League has denied ever officially receiving shares in the company, and has tried to distance itself from Avid and the financial scandal that developed after Avid was unable to repay the SSC’s N$30 million plus promised interest earnings of some N$1,47 million at the end of May.CLAIMS DOG BLAAUW In the process, questions have been raised about the role that Kapia, who as a director of Avid met with the SSC management to help clinch the investment transaction for Avid, played in the deal, and also the role that fellow Youth League member Ralph Blaauw, who is also a member of the organisation’s Central Committee, played in the process.Blaauw is claimed to have been the source of the claims that the Youth League held a major stake in Avid.He is also claimed to have alluded to an interest that “higher authority” and Namibia’s former President Sam Nujoma also had in Avid when he had a meeting with a senior SSC manager in an attempt to persuade the SSC to invest money with the company.Nujoma held a press conference three weeks ago to describe himself as “disturbed and dismayed” by the mention of his name in connection with Avid’s dealings.In what could perhaps be a sign that one of Kapia’s most powerful sources of support was wavering in his backing of the Youth League Secretary, Nujoma did not come out in defence of Kapia, but instead remarked that if Kapia or Blaauw had used his name or that of the Swapo Youth League in Avid’s endeavours to secure the investment from the SSC, they had done so for reasons known only to themselves.Blaauw last week announced his intention to resign from his post as Acting Secretary General of the National Youth Council as a result of the fallout from the SSC-Avid deal and Avid’s financial collapse after it was unable to return the SSC’s investment money.Kapia’s resignation as Deputy Minister followed after he had taken about a month’s leave from his post as Deputy Minister.He retained his post as Swapo Party Youth League Secretary, which he has held since 1997, and his position as a member of the National Assembly, to which he was elected in November last year, following his resignation.AVID ISSUE DOMINANT The meeting was dominated by a discussion of the Youth League’s involvement in the provisionally liquidated Avid Investment Corporation, of which Kapia had been a director, and the N$30 million investment deal between Avid and the Social Security Commission that has gone badly off the rails, a source indicated yesterday.The Youth League will make an official announcement today on the decisions taken by the Central Committee at Saturday’s meeting, the League’s Secretary for Information, Publicity and Mobilisation, Elijah Ngurare, said yesterday.However, he declined to reveal in the meantime what those decisions are.Kapia himself said yesterday that the Central Committee decided to grant him leave from his position as Secretary for a month, starting from today.He told The Namibian that this would be so that the Youth League could ascertain the situation with regard to its involvement in Avid and the SSC-Avid investment deal, “which is a good thing, for Swapo Party to ascertain the situation”. A source who attended Saturday’s meeting reported that the major part of it was taken up by a discussion of how the Youth League’s name was used, or claimed to have been used, in connection with the investment deal between the SSC and Avid.According to evidence that surfaced in the High Court during a Companies Act inquiry into the investment, politically tinged pressure was put on the SSC’s top management.It was told, at a stage when Avid was still trying to persuade the SSC to invest money through the company, that the Youth League had a major stake in Avid.This claim is supposed to have helped persuade the SSC to invest money with the untested asset management company.The inquiry also heard evidence from Avid’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, the late Lazarus Kandara, that the Youth League was supposed to hold 10 per cent of the shareholding in the company.The Youth League has denied ever officially receiving shares in the company, and has tried to distance itself from Avid and the financial scandal that developed after Avid was unable to repay the SSC’s N$30 million plus promised interest earnings of some N$1,47 million at the end of May.CLAIMS DOG BLAAUW In the process, questions have been raised about the role that Kapia, who as a director of Avid met with the SSC management to help clinch the investment transaction for Avid, played in the deal, and also the role that fellow Youth League member Ralph Blaauw, who is also a member of the organisation’s Central Committee, played in the process.Blaauw is claimed to have been the source of the claims that the Youth League held a major stake in Avid.He is also claimed to have alluded to an interest that “higher authority” and Namibia’s former President Sam Nujoma also had in Avid when he had a meeting with a senior SSC manager in an attempt to persuade the SSC to invest money with the company.Nujoma held a press conference three weeks ago to describe himself as “disturbed and dismayed” by the mention of his name in connection with Avid’s dealings.In what could perhaps be a sign that one of Kapia’s most powerful sources of support was wavering in his backing of the Youth League Secretary, Nujoma did not come out in defence of Kapia, but instead remarked that if Kapia or Blaauw had used his name or that of the Swapo Youth League in Avid’s endeavours to secure the investment from the SSC, they had done so for reasons known only to themselves.Blaauw last week announced his intention to resign from his post as Acting Secretary General of the National Youth C
ouncil as a result of the fallout from the SSC-Avid deal and Avid’s financial collapse after it was unable to return the SSC’s investment money.Kapia’s resignation as Deputy Minister followed after he had taken about a month’s leave from his post as Deputy Minister.He retained his post as Swapo Party Youth League Secretary, which he has held since 1997, and his position as a member of the National Assembly, to which he was elected in November last year, following his resignation.