Adossier of documents, corroborated by sources, has laid bare a plethora of possible corruption allegations, maladministration and nepotism at the National Youth Council, which has become a hotbed of infighting.
At the centre of the latest episode is Bridgehead Group Holding (Pty) Ltd, an NYC subsidiary which has allegedly failed to pay dividends since 2013.
Bridgehead acquired fishing rights, and has shares in various other companies.
It is mandated to bring funds into the council, and ultimately uplift the youth agenda.
In essence, it is the NYC’s business arm.
To date, however, it has not given a single cent to the NYC, according to sources with intricate knowledge about the matter.
Instead, New Era understands that Bridgehead is a financial burden on the council.
Without any other sources of revenue and a business arm which brings nothing, the NYC relies solely on government for the funding of its activities.
Documents seen by this publication show that since 2021, the NYC bled N$2 million to meet Bridgehead’s financial obligations.
Without a substantive board, this is a company on autopilot.
Documents further reveal that due to a lack of accountability, Bridgehead has failed to produce audited financial statements.
This failure has had a domino effect, as the NYC now finds itself in hot water with the auditor general.
Consequently, the council received adverse opinions for three consecutive financial years.
Undivided attention
Responding to detailed questions, NYC’s executive chairperson Sharonice Busch said issues around Bridgehead are receiving their undivided attention.
“The board of the NYC will ensure that an annual general meeting takes place shortly after the resumption of the ninth representative council (RC) meeting, where the RC will nominate new substantive board members. It is expected that the completion of these processes will enable BGH to deliver a higher return on investment to the NYC, and ultimately contribute to economic growth in Namibia,” the youth activist-turned-executive said.
The council blamed it on the dormancy of Bridgehead during the tenure of the current board of directors since January 2021.
However, she said, the company made a dividend payment to NYC in 2020, although not substantial.
Accountability
Despite the council missing out on monies it was supposed to get from Bridgehead, it is alleged that the NYC’s current board of directors failed to bring the company’s affairs to the attention of the RC since 2021.
The RC is the second-highest decision-making body of the NYC when the general assembly is not in session.
During a press conference in March, some members of the RC brought up the Bridgehead topic, demanding an urgent intervention to rescue the institution, which they said was on the brink of collapse.
This was after the annual RC meeting was abruptly called off.
“The RC, comprising young people, is the platform where the NYC can report on the affairs of Bridgehead. But politics is at play, and the board is making sure the RC doesn’t take place,” said a source, who preferred anonymity out of fear of reprisals and victimisation.
Genesis
Back in 2011, Bridgehead acquired 40% fishing rights through a joint venture with Uukumwe Youth Empowerment Consortium for seven years.
That contract was renewed in 2019.
Uukumwe is a horse mackerel rights holder which owns a 20% equity stake in Yukor Fishing (Pty) Ltd, a company that manages the horse mackerel quota.
Swapo’s Oshikoto coordinator and politician Armas Amukwiyu represents Bridgehead at Uukumwe as member of the board of directors.
He also represents Uukumwe at Yukor as a director.
He is, however, no longer on the council’s structure.
Amukwiyu did not respond to questions sent to him about a fortnight ago.
Attempts to get hold of him yesterday were also futile.
Uukumwe constructed a seal-processing factory in Lüderitz worth over N$15 million, where Bridgehead likewise has 40% shares.
Bridgehead has 51% shares in Ariya Bridge capital.
Warring youth
Mandated to address the plight of young people in the country, the NYC has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent times.
Allegations of maladministration, insubordination, corruption and power struggles have haunted the entity for some time.
When the current leadership of the council was elected in 2020, the first RC meeting was supposed to be in 2021.
However, it was allegedly called off due to Covid-19 regulations, despite delegates having travelled to Swakopmund, the host town of the supposed meeting.
But in 2022, the RC meeting was held, and one of the hot debates was the affairs of Bridgehead.
Too difficult to resolve, three members were selected to investigate the issue.
They were Ndemuweda Nghixulifa, Toyeni Shapaka and Yolanda Sabatta.
Additionally, Simon Taapopi and Eva Awases were appointed as interim Bridgehead board members to oversee the affairs.
The duo are NYC board members.
“The interim board, under the supervision of the board of NYC, has ensured the resolution of all regulatory matters at Bridgehead. [It] made significant progress to ensure that all annual financial statements (AFS) of BGH are finalised, audited and stored-in-file (with the AFS of 2018, 2019 and 2020 already audited and ready for signature, while those of 2021 and 2023 are nearing completion),” Busch said.
She went on to say that Taapopi and Awases “established proper internal controls and systems to ensure sound governance within BGH, in preparation for the appointment of a substantive board of directors.”
Clashes
Furthermore, some NYC woes have been attributed to a power struggle between suspended director Calista Schwartz-Gowases and Busch.
Their relationship is said to have hit rock bottom, and there appears to be blurred lines between their roles.
According to insiders, some positions at NYC have become redundant, while certain employees collect salaries way above their daily outputs.
The Act stipulates that Busch, who is also the board chairperson, is the NYC’s political head, while Swartz-Gowases is the administrative head, effectively making her the accounting officer.
Schwartz-Gowases was suspended earlier this year over allegations of serious misconduct.
“Some positions could be merged. You have someone coming to the office 08h00 to 17h00, Monday to Friday, doing nothing from January to December, and they are paid high salaries,” a source alleged.
The source mentioned that regional coordinators likewise do not show up for work.
“The youth development agenda in the country is weak in terms of empowerment because we don’t have the right people at the council who must advance the agenda of young people in the council,” reads part of another document, also seen by this reporter.
It is further alleged that Busch has been on an intensive drive to ensure coordinators who were on contracts get fulltime employment.
“They have been pressuring her to give them permanent jobs – and now that they want to be re-elected as board members, suddenly, before the RC meeting, they had a meeting with regional coordinators. They took a resolution that they will be employed permanently, and she took those regional coordinators to the RC meeting while they don’t form part of the composition of the RC.
“Now, these people are permanently employed, and their salaries were adjusted. They are currently renegotiating for a salary increase,” reads the document.
Busch poured cold water over this allegation, saying the council indeed offered permanent employment contracts to several regional coordinators.
“This was not a salary increment in the context of labour relations – but instead a step taken to ensure fair treatment and fair remuneration of employees in the NYC,” she stated.
She added that the recent salary increments of 6% were across-the- board.
It followed a negotiation process between the bargaining unit and management of the NYC.
Salaries allegedly take up to 70% of the NYC’s budget.
This was confirmed by the youth minister, Agnes Tjongarero.
However, Busch contradicted the assertion, saying personnel expenditure stands at only 41.5% of the subsidy allocated to NYC, and 35% of the institution’s total budget.
Problem child
Tjongarero said their attempts to seek information on affairs at the NYC are met by a deafening silence.
“As the ministry, we are not given any information on what is going on. We have been asking the NYC, but we haven’t been getting answers,” she said.
The veteran politician confirmed the allegations of maladministration and irregularities within the council.
“We want these people to be accountable.
We don’t even get reports from them, and the next step must be followed, and that is what we are going to do,” she emphasised.
An investigation carried out by the ministry into the NYC brouhaha recommended that both Busch and Schwartz-Gowases be suspended.
“However, we are still waiting for the response from the AG,” the minister said.