Rudolf Gaiseb
The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) has denounced the allegations of tax evasion by Independent Patriots for Change parliamentarian John Louw Mouton.
The allegations were made in Parliament last Tuesday, with Mouton citing the broadcaster’s most recent audit by the auditor general. He accused the national broadcaster of not paying taxes to the Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra) while management splashes unapproved bonuses and travel allowances.
NBC said Mouton’s assertion of corruption and a link between the NBC’s operations and a N$353 million “bailout” by the government are false.
“These statements are… grossly irresponsible and a deliberate distortion of facts,” NBC director general Stanley Similo wrote in a statement issued later that day.
He said, as of September 2025, NBC’s pay as you earn (PAYE) balance stands at N$3 million, reflecting statutory deductions for that month.
“This amount is due for payment to Namra by 20 October 2025, fully within legal timelines,” he added. Similo said a historic PAYE arrear of N$33 million was accumulated over several decades before NamRA’s establishment but was formally written off by the finance ministry under the FY 2024/25 Appropriation Bill as part of a one-off legacy debt relief measure across multiple State entities.
During his tenure as finance minister, Ipumbu Shiimi allocated N$1.4 billion to settle such legacy tax obligations for public enterprises, including the University of Namibia, TransNamib and NBC.
Similo said this was a corrective fiscal measure, “not a bailout and certainly not an act of corruption”.
The broadcaster said it has maintained total compliance with all NamRA requirements since 2021.
“Under the Tax Relief Programme, the Corporation settled N$122 million in capital arrears from its own revenue sources. A further N$76 million in penalties and interest was waived in line with the programme’s lawful provisions,” the statement reads.
The Corporation noted that it generates approximately 56% of its annual income from commercial and advertising activities.
Similo maintained that the incentive payments cited by Mouton were lawful, contractual obligations applied uniformly across the NBC workforce, from executives to junior staff, under the total cost to company (TCTC) remuneration structure.
He noted that NBC is subject to annual statutory external audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General.
“To date, no malfeasance has ever been reported against the Corporation,” Similo wrote.
Meanwhile, Mouton on Wednesday questioned the Minister of Information and Communication Technology Emma Theofelus why NBC uses two types of payment structures for their employees, “basic plus and total cost to company”.
“What policy provides for this kind of pay structure division?” he questioned.
Muoton questioned whether it is true that this structure is used to buy loyalty and give favours to some employees to ensure that “a certain political party is prioritised in its broadcasting?”
“How is it possible that certain individuals who are in the same pay bracket will earn more in car allowances and other benefits?” Mouton continued.