The board of the Agro Marketing and Trading Agency yesterday announced the dismissal of the company’s managing director Lungameni Lucas, who has been on suspension since January last year.
Lucas, who was formally placed on suspension in January 2022 for allegedly failing to protect AMTA’s interests, failure to act with due diligence, breach of trust and gross negligence, was late last year found guilty of all counts of misconduct following a protracted disciplinary process that was led by lawyer Profysen Muluti.
In yesterday’s press statement, AMTA’s board chairperson Lorna Shikongo-Kuvare said after a thorough internal disciplinary process, the board was left with no choice but to formally dismiss Lucas as head of the country’s agricultural marketing company.
“After an internal disciplinary process, the managing director of the Agro Marketing and Trading Agency (AMTA), Lungameni Lucas, was lawfully dismissed for breach of his contractual obligations to the agency. Despite the unfortunate outcome, the board of AMTA assures the public and its stakeholders that it will continue to uphold the rule of law and strive for good corporate governance on behalf of the agency,” said Shikongo-Kuvare.
“We cannot and will not turn a blind eye to any misconduct aimed at crippling the agency, the interest of the shareholder and the public or our stakeholders,” she said.
According to earlier reports, a forensic investigation conducted last year also fingered Lucas for the disappearance of about N$6.2 million; of which N$1.2 million was allegedly transferred from AMTA’s levy account to the main cheque account, and N$5 million that was transferred from the levy account to the salaries account. None of these amounts could allegedly be traced.
It was also reported that Lucas “self-approved” salary advances on four various occasions, which amounted to a combined amount of over N$65 000.– ohembapu@nepc.com.na