While its leader McHenry Venaani continues singing from the transparency and accountability hymn book, some senior figures in Namibia’s second largest political party lament being in the dark about its finances.

With 16 National Assembly seats, the Popular Democratic Movement is the second highest recipient from the Treasury in terms of party funding.

A seat in the National Assembly earns a political party around N$1.1 million annually. So far, political parties have received N$607.8 million since 2019. 

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has often complained about how parties blatantly refuse to account for public money. 

However, PDM remains the only party that has submitted its audited financial statements to the commission timeously.

This effectively means PDM gets around N$17 million a year from the State. 

The assembly has 104 members, of which 96 members are directly elected through their party lists.

Meanwhile, talk in the PDM corridors is rife that only Venaani, fellow parliamentarian and treasurer Nico Smit and secretary general Manuel Ngaringombe are familiar with the party’s financial state.

Some senior figures are now demanding that those in charge of the kitty open it up for scrutiny, as the dust around the abuse of party resources for personal use refuses to settle.

Venaani, however, maintains that the party is run on sound financial principles.

He noted PDM is one of the few political formations that submit clean and timely audited financial statements to the Electoral Commission of Namibia, as required by law.

Cash cow

According to insiders, some of the party’s money – derived from taxpayers – have been diverted to pay off personal loans of some bigwigs, used to pay party leader Venaani a second salary while the expelled six parliamentarians have now also been added to the party’s payroll, without clear terms of references.

“The PDM has been paying the president over N$50 000 a month since 2019, apparently to repay the money he lent to the party.

These loans, New Era understands, were to be repaid at an interest rate of 17%, or 6% more than the current basic prime lending rate by commercial banks.

Back in 2014, Venaani allegedly extended a N$400 000 loan to the party for that year’s election campaign when the party’s coffers were empty.

An agreement was purportedly struck between him and that party, that PDM would reimburse him, once its financial situation improved [increased parliamentary funding].

Venaani also indicated that PDM has paid off whatever was owed to him.

“We still owe one or two leaders where negotiations are going slow. I was repaid after five years. My money was fully repaid,” Venaani said during a recent interview with this paper.

When it was put to him, how much in monetary terms, he was repaid, the seasoned politician retorted: “PDM is an open party. We just got an unqualified audited financial statement. It shall be released [and] you will see the figures right there.”

Other party members, including Smit, also bankrolled the party’s operations, under similar conditions.

Smit did not respond to detailed questions yesterday. 

PDM’s finances have been a foggy affair.

“There is a process to cover up those payments. Where is the proof that the party borrowed money from the president or any other person? There is nothing. Unless it’s a backdated agreement to justify the looting,” a senior PDM figure who requested anonymity for fear of retribution said recently.

Last year, Smit denied the allegations around the usage of party monies to finance private lifestyles of some of its leaders.

At the time, his office failed to provide reports due to the fact that PDM’s offices in the capital were broken into and “a computer with all the data” was stolen.

Empty coffers

Venaani hastened to say PDM is in an excellent financial state, noting that they now have a significant vehicle fleet, despite the fact that he inherited a broke party, when he took over the then Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) from the late Katuutire Kaura.

“The condition of PDM’s resources is good. For the first time, under my watch, the regional coordinators are receiving salaries. They have vehicles. When I came to this party, we had one vehicle. Today, we are boasting more than 45. We have really done a lot of work in terms of expanding the economic network to improve,” he said.

“The party was a 1% party [election performance in 2009]. Today it is 16%. The party was in the doldrums of extinction. It didn’t have the resources to fight for an effective campaign. It was not the official opposition, we brought it back to become the official opposition. So the party was going for extinction. We took it from the ashes, made huge sacrifices,” he expounded.

DTA rebranded to PDM in 2017, to among others shrug off a dark past of its adversaries associated with the brand.

“For the last three years, this party has not run on any overdrafts. We are running on our own savings. We are running this party from a very strong balance sheet. We have problems here and there. You know that we are also paying former members of parliament (MPs). We have a retention policy that we are going to review very soon looking at what they are going to do now going into the elections,” he said.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that six PDM lawmakers - Esmeralda Esme !Aebes, Johannes Martin, Kazeongere Tjeundo, Godfrey Kupuzo Mwilima, Timotheus Sydney Shihumbu and Pieter Mostert - were unlawfully added to the National Assembly list.

They were replaced by Hidipo Hamata, Yvette Areas, Maximalliant Katjimune, Raymond Diergaardt, Charmaine Tjirare and Mike Venaani, father to PDM’s leader McHenry.

McHenry justified the salaries the PDM pays to former MPs, saying it is to keep cohesion within the movement.

“These are all matters meant to keep cohesion in the party so that the new, the old remain firm in the organisation,” he said.

Tensions are simmering in PDM ahead of the 2024 intraparty congress.

McHenry is expected to defend his turf when he faces his most likely competitor, fellow lawmaker Vipuakuje Muharukua, who has whispered to his inner circle about his leadership ambitions. 

- emumbuu@nepc.com.na