TransNamib following in Air Namibia’s footsteps – IPPR

Frederico Links

The lack of action to address concerns around the governance and management practices at TransNamib has led the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) to believe it is on the same road as the liquidated national airline.

The IPPR on Wednesday released its procurement tracker which focused on a TransNamib investigation report highlighting its troubles.

IPPR researcher Frederico Links on Wednesday said over the last decade or so the various boards and management teams implicated in poorly and wastefully governing and managing the entity have largely escaped any accountability.

“We see trends of Air Namibia in TransNamib,” he said.

He admitted, however, that TransNamib does have recent annual reports showing its financial performance.

Air Namibia was liquidated in February 2020 after its main shareholder, the government, decided to do so.

The government argued that Air Namibia’s insolvency was one of the main reasons.

The 75-year-old airline’s budgetary transfers from the government to keep it flying since 1998 was estimated to be at N$6 billion.

The liquidation resulted in close to 700 of its employees losing their jobs.

The airline’s historic debt of N$1,3 billion, along with a loss of N$119 million led the government to cut it off.

“There have been a number of forensic audits and investigations of governance and management matters at TransNamib under chief executive officers Titus Haimbili and Sara Katiti (now Naanda) or former acting CEO Hippy Tjivikua over the last decade or so, and the various boards and management teams implicated in poorly and wastefully governing and managing the entity have largely escaped any accountability to date,” the tracker reads.

Links said: “Here we are again… the political will is lacking to fix TransNamib. It is not going to end well.”

“Concerns around the governance and management practices at the parastatal have been heightened following the circulation of a leaked report by auditing and consulting firm Ernst & Young Namibia (EY),” the tracker reads.

PREVIOUS WOES

In 2018, the then TransNamib board blamed constant political interference for the parastatal’s financial and operational woes.

The board, led by Paul Smit and lawyer Elize Angula, said this in a scathing statement in response to former deputy minister of works and transport Sankwasa James Sankwasa’s claims that the board has failed, and should resign.

“On the one hand, the government has no money, but on the other hand it frustrates the decision-making process of the institution in its efforts to generate its funds,” the statement reads.

In the 2018/19 financial year, TransNamib made a loss of N$80,3 million on revenue of N$517,8 million.
In its previous publications, the IPPR stated that no corporate tax or dividend payments were made to the government.

‘WE ARE TRYING’

TransNamib spokesperson Abigail Raubenhei­mer yesterday said: “Having secured funding, TransNamib is working towards increasing its capacity, which will enable the company to move more freight and provide a reliable service . . .”

She said the session held by the IPPR is simply a reiteration of the EY report that the minister of finance and public enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, the Anti-Corruption Commission and the TransNamib board of directors have pronounced themselves on and cleared TransNamib’s management of all allegations of corruption.

“In terms of ethical research, we would have hoped that an independent body such as the IPPR would have launched an independent investigation into such allegations and not solely relied on a report completed by another party . . .

“In terms of this process, the IPPR has failed in its mandate to deliver independent and analytical research,” Raubenheimer said.

RELEASE IT

The IPPR agrees with the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) that the investigation report on TransNamib should be released.

Acting general secretary Narina Pollmann has asked Shiimi to hold TransNamib head Johny Smith and his management accountable for alleged misconduct.

However, the government has maintained that it will not release the report.

The IPPR wants the relationship between TransNamib and Tradeport to be investigated after seeing it flagged as “prima facie evidence of potential fraud and theft”.

“Similarly, the EY report should form the basis of a National Assembly public accounts committee investigation of the matters raised in the report . . ,” the tracker reads.

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