Former Kavango East governor Bonifatius Wakudumo denies mishandling money pledged to a boy (14) who became famous after allegedly walking over 200km from Divundu to Rundu to attend Sam Nujoma’s memorial service in 2025.
The 14-year-old told The Namibian on Thursday that the promises, including N$31 000 pledged to take him back to school, were never received.
Wakudumo said on Thursday that efforts to get the child back into school failed, as his behaviour became problematic, resulting in his expulsion.
The former governor then decided to arrange a meeting with Mukwe constituency councillor Damian Maghambayi and the boy’s parents to account for the money pledged to him.
“We counted the balance in the presence of everybody. So, this money was given to his parents in his presence,” he said.
“My responsibility ended there with that boy.”
The 14-year-old said the former governor never took care of him and as a result, his parents could not afford to keep him in school.
“He’s lying to me. . . We are waiting for the money,” he said.
He said he lives with his grandmother and no one can take care of them, so he makes efforts to go to shopping malls to look for food.
“If a person did not give me N$50 and N$100 to go buy food, we sleep with hunger because we are poor,” he said.
The child said his father died and his mother is in Zambia.
“I want to go back to school and he’s wasting my time for school,” he said.
The boy’s aunt, who requested anonymity, says the boy’s family received about N$8 000 from the then Kavango East governor after he was expelled from school.
“The mother received N$8 000.
“We never got a full explanation of how much was pledged, how much was spent while he was at school and how much was left,” she says.
She says the money was handed over in the presence of the former regional councillor and the 14-year-old’s mother, grandmother and other relatives.
According to the aunt, questions remain about how much money was pledged, how much was spent on the child’s schooling and how the remaining funds were accounted for.
