By Chrispin Inambao WINDHOEK Theo Karipi who was suspended on Monday as the General Manager for Administration and Human Resources at the NBC has come out swinging, dismissing the allegations against him as “rumours” and calling his critics a bunch of “liars”. When New Era had tried to elicit comment from him for one of its lead stories with the heading, “NBC Manager Fingered in Sham Loan” that appeared in yesterday’s edition, his mobile initially buzzed but it eventually was switched off and was on voicemail mode. But yesterday after the multi-sourced article that quoted several serving and former NBC employees, and whose authenticity was verified by an NBC board member, Karipi dismissed the report saying it contains innuendoes injurious to his professional repute. Though Karipi could not deny the suspect loan that formed the basis of the story, he politely refused to give the factual amount involved saying this could prejudice his case. He felt the article “has no basis – in fact it contains conjectures and hearsay. It is defamatory on my character, on my social standing, on my reputation and on my professional life. “This article published in New Era implies on my part that I was involved in fraudulent and corrupt activities. But all these are blatant lies and distortion of certain facts. I therefore request the newspaper, on the basis that this story is based on hearsay and conjecture, retracts this article,” said Karipi. “All what I will say is that this statement be given similar prominence in the next edition of New Era. If New Era fails to, I will definitely consult with my legal counsel to institute legal action for unfair defamation of character and defamation,” he said. “The remarks in the said news article are blatant lies and defamatory about the following: that I gave myself an interest-free loan from NBC funds to purchase a vehicle from the corporation. These transactions were all documented and can be verified with the relevant authorities in the NBC and therefore should not be a subject of negative speculation and rumours. The other statement that I have purchased the said vehicle for N$20 000 is a blatant lie, as the vehicle was alienated to me at 30 percent of the purchase price in line with its original purchase price,” he stated, though he could not mention the amount. On the observation that he was the de-facto CEO during NBC’s transition, as he was tasked with finance, administration and personnel among others, Karipi responded: “Never at any time did I consider myself a de-facto CEO because during the transition there were always director-generals in place and as a human resource professional in my own right, I know that companies are run and managed on the basis of policies and procedures. The other statement that I approved my own resignation and reappointed myself is a lie.” He added: “This is the subject of the ongoing investigation,” that led to his suspension on Monday by the NBC Director-General Bob Vezera Kandetu. Commenting on allegations that he dealt ruthlessly and swiftly with subordinates who committed minor transgressions, he said these are “disgruntled individuals” who are merely tarnishing his image as in most of the disciplinary cases he merely served in an advisory capacity to line managers who had the final say on each individual case. Karipi refused point-blank to answer to specific questions on grounds that he is on suspension and it up to the NBC to decide whether to respond to the questions.