TIRI MASAWI
Independent Patriots for Change Member of Parliament, Rodney Cloete has questioned the appointment of the NamPort Board Chairperson, Jerome Mouton.
Speaking in Parliament recently , Cloete asked the Minister of Works and Transport , Veikko Nekundi whether due diligence was done in appointing Mouton as the NamPort Board Chairperson despite him being Managing Director of a company that Namfisa deregistered in August 2023 after it diverted N$7.3 million of the Government Institutions Pension Fund’s money to a sister entity.
Mouton chairs the board that consists of Alfeus Kathindi, Shiwana Ndeunyema, Charmaine Davids, Suveree Hijarunguru, Isabella Tjatjara and Desiderius Shilunga.
“Noting that the Minister is directly responsible for the appointment of the Board of Directors of the Namibian Ports Authority, and that under the Minister’s authority, the current Chairperson of that Board was installed, Did the Minister approve the appointment of the current Namport Board Chairperson, and was he aware of the Namfisa deregistration and the GIPF public warning at the time he made that appointment?,” Cloete asked.
He also raised concern on whether Nekundi ignored a warning issued by the GIPF against doing business with the company managed by Mouton after declaring it legally prohibited from managing a fund that held N$450 million in the retirement savings of Namibian public servants.
Cloete also raised questions about Nekundi’s insights on the new chairperson after he canceled the competitive tender for the N$4 billion Lüderitz oil and gas supply base within 48 hours last year.
Cloete said he wanted to know: What due diligence was conducted before making that appointment; and will the Minister explain to this House and to the pensioners of this country how an individual at the centre of a pension fund diversion came to be entrusted with the oversight of billions of Namibia Dollars in state port infrastructure?
He also wants to know : Has the Chairperson participated in any board decisions relating to the Lüderitz oil and gas supply base since the competitive tender was cancelled; and will the Minister undertake to table before this House the full list of Namport board members, their business interests, and the due diligence reports that informed each appointment?
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