Ongwediva
The intention by the Oshakati Town Council to give away a piece of land worth close to N$50 million for a mere N$2.5 million to a local property tycoon has raised a series of questions.
But what raises more eyebrows is the fact that the person being recommended by the Oshakati Town Council to buy the former Oshakati open market is reportedly already on site, despite that the minister of urban and rural development has not yet approved the council’s recommendation.
Urban and Rural Development Minister Sophia Shaningwa yesterday said the Oshakati Town Council has not yet officially communicated to her or reached her office for approval regarding the land deal.
Earlier this month, the seven councillors under the leadership of Mayor Katrina Shimbulu bypassed all the processes and uncritically allocated a piece of land, considered the most prime in Oshakati, to a firm belonging to Erastus ‘Chicco’ Shapumba.
Shapumba’s company had not met most of the requirements of the town council’s land committee score sheet and was ranked fourth among the companies that applied for the property.
The council could however not explain why it allocated Erf 1342 to Shapumba. New Era understands that an independent valuer contracted by the council determined the exact worth of the land as N$30 million. The valuer also suggested the land should not be sold at a price lower than N$17 million or above the maximum of N$47 million.
Minutes of the council’s meeting could however not show how councillors arrived at N$2.7 million.
Although Shaningwa has not pronounced herself, work to demolish the old open market by a company allegedly contracted by Mouse Properties has already started.
Shaningwa however maintained that none of the latest developments, including allocating the land to Shapumba, or the intended price to sell the land was communicated to her.
“All I can say is that as people we have to abide by the rules and we have to do what is right. I am yet to understand if procedures were followed. I always stand for what is right,” said Shaningwa.
In a letter dated September 1, 2015, addressed to Shimbulu, Shaningwa “took note of the disturbing indecision of the council in the matter and the alleged possible conflict of interest on the part of the members of the council.”
In the letter Shaningwa further asked for information regarding the selection of the company to be made available for her to familiarize herself with what happened.
The minister advised Shimbulu that “in the event this project did not go through this formal process I recommend that the council restarts the process from the beginning, following the steps as outlined above,” read her letter.
Instead the council favoured Shapumba even though his company had not met the requirements.
New Era understands some councillors have now pushed for Mouse Properties to start with the work, in order to ‘frustrate’ Shaningwa.
“If the construction starts, it is going to be difficult for the minister to stop him,” confided the sources.
Oshakati Town Council CEO Werner Iita confirmed he is aware there are some demolitions going on at the site. “But we don’t know who is carrying out the work as the process to approve the plot is still ongoing,” he said
Iita maintained the council determined the price and not management
“Team management – we are advisers but when it comes to decisions, seven councillors take the decision. We can advise but councillors are not bound to the advice of the CEO or the management. That is stipulated in the Act and the Act is clear,” said Iita.
When contacted for comment, Shapumba referred this reporter to his lawyer Sisa Namandje. Namandje who however maintained his client had not instructed him to give out information concerning that matter.