Hesron Kapanga
The Namibia Football Association (NFA) has suspended its head of finance, administration, and information technology two months prior to its planned 32nd Ordinary Congress.
The 32nd Ordinary Congress is scheduled for the 18th of November 2023 at the NamPower Convention Centre.
This congress will be an elective one, tasked with selecting new members who will oversee football matters in the country. For the past two years, the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) Normalisation Committee has been managing football affairs in the country.
With the congress approaching, the necessary financial documents must be prepared and presented to the delegates. However, due to the suspension of the head of finance, Simeon Alfred, on 05 September 2023, for neglecting official duties, the NFA is unable to respond to questions from this agency regarding who will assume his responsibilities.
In a suspension letter addressed to Alfred, it is stated that numerous discussions regarding his work ethic and the execution of his duties were held, with no improvement noted.
“I regret to inform you that, despite discussions about your level of work commitment and quality, no improvement in your work or willingness to deliver was observed, despite the numerous interventions made to monitor and maintain your activities under control and in an acceptable order,” read the opening sentences of the suspension letter.
While the NFA mentioned incompetence as one of the reasons for Alfred’s suspension in its letter, it further stated that they are currently conducting investigations, and their actions will be determined by the investigation’s outcome.
When approached for comment on Thursday regarding what they are investigating and the expected duration of the investigation, NFA secretary general Jochen Traut stated that this is an internal matter for the company, and they will not comment at this stage.
Meanwhile, Alfred’s representative, Olsen Kahiriri, confirmed the suspension to Nampa but stated that they had agreed with the NFA to keep the matter private and confidential.
“It is common that the NFA does not keep issues confidential, so we see most of the confidential documents leaked all over social media. My client’s privacy is not being respected in this matter, even though we agreed to resolve this internally with the NFA,” said Kahiriri.
Nampa also possesses an offer letter that the NFA provided to Alfred for the termination of his contract. When asked by this agency why they would offer a settlement letter to someone who is under investigation, Traut declined to comment.
-Nampa