The Agricultural Business Development Agency (Agribusdev) managing director Petrus Uugwanga yesterday took his own life. He was 47.
The police confirmed Uugwanga allegedly shot himself with a shotgun to the chest. His body was found at about 14h22 along Matshishi Road in the Otjomuise area.
“A pump-action shotgun was found lying few metres from the body. The body was lying next to a grey Amarok Volkswagen D/Cab,” the police said yesterday.
“The motive is not known, and there was no suicide note left behind.”
Uugwanga, who has been with Agribusdev since 2013, was suspended in June this year for three months to allow for smooth investigations at the embattled state-owned agency.
The company is tasked with managing and supervising the green scheme projects across the country.
Over the past few years, the agency has been struggling to pay suppliers and the salaries of its around 130 workers. The agency is also said to owe South African company Kynoch close to N$20 million. Recently, Nampa quoted Uugwanga as saying the agency cannot pay workers’ overdue salaries at green schemes countrywide because circumstances do not only negatively impact green schemes but also the agriculture industry in general. Agribusdev manages the 11 green schemes and has been, according to media reports, underfunded for the last five years, leading to work at most projects screeching to a halt. The agriculture ministry late last year announced it would lease out seven of its 11 green schemes to the private sector after failing to sustain operations. According to media reports, the agency received N$90 million between the 2014/15 and 2018/19 budget years.