By William Mbangula Oshakati The manager of the Ongwediva Rural Development Centre (RDC), Pendukeni Amunyela, has dismissed what he termed unfounded and malicious allegations of maladministration and nepotism against him. The allegations were contained in a written complaint delivered to New Era’s offices by some disgruntled workers at the RDC. According to the allegations, the workers suffer what they consider unfair treatment under the management of Amunyela. They accuse Komeho Namibia management, the agency running the RDC on behalf of the Oshana Regional Council, of harassment for the simple reason that the workers were imposed on them by the government. Allegations and complaints include: that the agency has recruited foreign nationals, mostly Zimbabweans, who have squandered scarce government resources, including cars; that the agency has recruited relatives of some senior officials as casual workers who are well paid at the expense of permanent employees; that the RDC manager has no good working relations with his subordinates; that he uses petrol from a government vehicle without anyone calling him to order; that some employees are not placed in the job categories for which they have applied and were recruited; the manager has bumped a government vehicle, GRNÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 80842, without reporting it to the relevant ministry and the police. Amunyela allegedly secretly took the vehicle to a private garage (Ongwediva Auto Clinic & Motors) for repairs. This prompted some of the disgruntled workers to report the matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission. According to the allegations, Amunyela was coming from a wedding of one of the RDC managers in the Omaheke Region when the accident occurred. Against the said background, they demand the immediate resignation of Amunyela. In response, Amunyela shot down all the allegations as baseless. On the appointment of foreign nationals, he explained that this is the domain of the Steering Committee which is authorized by the Permanent Secretary of the relevant ministry. The arrangement was made as part of efforts to transfer skills and technical know-how to locals. The expatriates (two Zimbabweans only), he noted, have been doing their work excellently by even introducing new appropriate technology at the workshop. Neither of the two has so far been on record for having abused any government property, including vehicles. He challenged those who have evidence to produce it. On the employment or retrenchment of workers, Amunyela said he could not be blamed for something that happened before his transfer to the centre in March last year. His agency has not retrenched anyone, has not replaced anyone from his or her job category or harassed anyone because of such people being imposed on the agency by the government. Concerning the working relations with his juniors, Amunyela explained that such accusations are made by people with a hidden agenda against himself and the agency, Komeho Namibia. These people, he noted, have lost touch with the accepted working procedures and the reality of the situation on the ground. Amunyela said: “I am working through the accepted structures and procedures of the agency, which means that every month there is a management meeting between the heads of department and myself as the overall head, and each month a meeting is held between myself and all the other staff members, and again labourers have their own meeting each month. Besides, those in production always have their own meetings twice a month. I don’t know how those who are making such accusations expect me to be in touch with my people. If there are such ample opportunities to share work-related views and concerns with the employees under me, how can they say I have no good working relations with my people?” Amunyela admitted that he was involved in an accident in which he bumped a cow between Oshivelo and Omuthiya in Oshikoto Region on December 6, 2006. The accident, he explained, was reported to the police and the relevant ministry, as is procedurally the case with all government vehicles. He denied, however, that the car was taken to a private garage in a questionable manner. After submitting all the reports to all relevant authorities, it was certified that the accident was genuine and humanly unavoidable. On this basis, three quotations were obtained, and Ongwediva Motor Clinic & Motors Spares were chosen to do the repairs. He denied having taken petrol from a government vehicle or having abused any of the public property under his care. On the day of the accident, he was on official duty and not coming from a wedding, as was alleged. A trip authority shown to New Era by Amunyela was authorized by the officer in charge of marketing, training and outreach. His trip with a government car included activities within the centre at Ongwediva, a meeting in Windhoek and other activities in the regions of Oshana, Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, Khomas and Omaheke, and was valid from November 30 to December 30, 2006. Ongwediva RDC was placed under Oshana Regional Council last year by the Ministry of Regional and local Government, Housing and Rural Development as part of the decentralization programme. Komeho Namibia, one of the NGOs which tendered to run and manage the centre, had been given a five-year contract to do the work since 2004. At present it has about 30 employees serving in various categories under four main departments, namely: Appropriate Technology (AP), Hospitality, Finance and Administration and Marketing, Training and Outreach. Some of the machinery and equipment manufactured at the AP department, one of the key components of the centre, include windlasses, bush pumps, concrete rings, cattle troughs, millet storage tanks, millet thrashers, VIP toilets, hammer mills and marula juice/oil press water tanks. Said Amunyela: “We are making significant progress despite some people with hidden agendas who want to paint a gloomy picture of the centre. Our hospitality facilities have improved beyond our detractors’ imagination, with VIP rooms totally revamped, our having recruited experienced chefs and establishing a camping site. “Again, our appropriate technology department is now advanced with regard to machinery which has improved significantly because of the assistance we have received from foreign nationals working there. We were even able to innovate a new hammer mill which is selling like hot cakes at the moment. We have also trained close to 355 people in various fields and allowed trainees, mainly from Valombola Vocational Centre, to do their practical attachments here.”