2018-08-02Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter EENHANA – President Hage Geingob yesterday said the just-concluded marathon court case involving the loss of N$30 million that the Social Security Commission had invested with unknown entity Avid Investments was testimony to government’s continued efforts to curb corruption. A former deputy minister, Paulus Kapia, had to be removed from his job when it came to light he was among those fingered in the matter. His co-accused were also emerging stars in the ruling party Swapo, but their political aspirations suffered heavily because of their implication in the case. Kapia, a firebrand youth leader in his heyday, and four others were recently duly convicted and sentenced on some charges they faced in the matter. He specifically was given an option to pay a fine of N$60,000 for his role in the disappearance of the N$30 million. Geingob did not want to delve much into the case, but flagged it as one of the testimonies of the Swapo government’s commitment to fighting corruption. He said government’s official position on the matter would soon be made public. He said government did not want to interfere in the matter while it was before court. Speaking at the official opening of the 11th Eenhana Trade and Business Expo at Eenhana yesterday, Geingob said government was particularly concerned about the inflation of costs of publicly funded infrastructural projects. He cited as an example the Hosea Kutako airport tender project, whose cost jumped from N$3 billion to N$7 billion. Geingob personally had to intervene by cancelling the tender, before a Chinese company that got the tender dragged him to court. “[It’s the same] with things we are looking into like the storage facility in Walvis Bay and Neckartal dam which were quoted in US dollars and just because of currency fluctuations what we will be paying is half a billion.” “Again we are looking into these irregular actions yet you are saying we are doing nothing,” lamented Geingob. Government alone cannot achieve national development without the support of the private sector and the citizens at large, he told those who descended on the expo. The expo is celebrated under the theme ‘fostering business and economic sustainability’. It ends this Saturday. 2018-08-02Staff Report 2
