The western diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia has pledged to continue thoroughly investigating the alleged disappearance of millions of dollars.
Elcin, one of the country’s largest churches, drew negative media and public attention after it was revealed that some funds were unaccounted for due to a lack of evidence.
The investigation will focus on N$3.4 million that was paid to the church by the ministry of finance in 2016 for outstanding rentals at two primary schools in the Oshana and Omusati regions.
One of the church’s senior clergy, Joseph Shikuma, raised concerns about the usage of the funds in a newsletter last year and initiated an investigation.
He registered a case of fraud, corruption and theft with the police in January, accusing three senior church members of unlawfully and intentionally defrauding Elcin for their own interests.
The church’s internal investigation team has since reported the money was not stolen but used for daily operations.
The report uncovered that over N$3 million was accounted for, but over N$300 000 of the church’s funds could not be accounted for due to a lack of supporting documents.
The report further discovered that N$33 403 was unaccounted for; however, it is feared that the church may have suffered even more significant financial damage.
Additionally, some transactions were not properly documented, and company owners were paid by the church into their personal accounts, instead of the accounts of contracted companies.
“Okongo and Mwahafa are two closed corporations owned by Arvo Mufeti. They provided a quote to do renovation work for the western diocese. When payment was done, the money was paid directly into the account of Mr Mufeti as an individual.
“On the computer system, it was indicated that payment was made to the corporation, but the bank statement indicates that payment was done into his [Mufeti’s] personal account,” the report noted.
Mufeti’s companies landed renovation jobs from the church, valued at close to N$400 000.
The report also showed there were no quotations or invoices for work done, but payments were made, including those that were made to Ames, owned by Amena Munyika (N$88 400), Remember Trading (N$19 662) and N$35 469 that was paid to a Johannes Kambalala.
In some cases, only one quotation was obtained to do the work.
A contract of N$519 156 to erect a wire fence, which was done by The Farm Investment C, as well as renovation work done by Okongo Investment CC, was conducted with only one quotation on record.
As a result, the church has been instructed to recover any losses suffered.
The probe suggests, “Individuals given money must account for what the money was used by providing proof of payment. Recovering losses may come in the form of compulsory deduction and legal action in the form of civil litigation”.
On it
Despite the findings, the diocese said it remains committed to uncovering the truth behind the allegations and has vowed to leave no stone unturned in its quest for answers.
In response, the diocese’s general secretary, Johannes Haufiku, clarified that the investigation did not report on missing money but rather a lack of evidence for payments.
He assured the church community that plans are ongoing to conduct further investigations to rectify the matter.
“We are saddened by the disturbing news that is aimed at putting the church’s name in jeopardy. However, we have taken note of the outcome of the investigation and will further look into it to provide the evidence required,” he said in a statement.
The diocese’s moderator, Gideon Niitenge, also urged the public to remain calm and assured them that the church would “get to the bottom of things” to uncover the truth and provide the missing evidence.
He explained the church is doing everything in its power to follow the investigation’s recommendations and search for missing documents required to account for the missing funds.
However, he noted this can be a challenge, given that almost a decade has passed since the funds were received and some documents may be missing.
“Lack of documents does not guarantee missing monies or money embezzlement. It is normal for certain documents to be missing, as they have been handled by various officers,” he explained.
Omusati Police commander Ismael Basson said the investigation into the allegation is ongoing and close to completion.
“Currently, we are dealing with bank statements before any arrests,” he said.
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