NIP suspensions worry Jooste

PUBLIC enterprises minister Leon Jooste says the Namibia Institute of Pathology should not allow people to act in executive positions for more than six months to avoid financial losses.

The NIP board suspended chief executive Augustinus Katiti and five senior executives in June and this month. Most of the officials are being accused of corruption or other alleged irregularities.

The NIP handles all public health sector blood testing services across the country.

Jooste wrote to health minister Bernard Haufiku on Monday to express concern about the suspension of the parastatal’s CEO and senior executives.

“Experience has shown that the outcome of most of these suspensions is less than ideal, and to the detriment of the public enterprise from both a financial as well as an operational point of view,” he stated.

Jooste added that acting executives develop the expectation to get the position in which they act.

“If a person acts for more than six months, he or she may have a reasonable expectation of securing the position, which raises complications in line with the provisions of the Labour Act if they choose to challenge,” he noted.

Jooste requested Haufiku to ask the board to provide proposed timelines and strategies to resolve the leadership situation at the NIP. He also requested the health minister to ask the board for an update on Katiti’s disciplinary process.

“Please also request the board on the remainder of the disciplinary processes to charge the suspended individuals within the confines of the Labour Act and the company policy,” he wrote. Some NIP officials have complained that Jooste’s letter was evidence that he was putting pressure on the board to reinstate Katiti and other executives, especially since the letter came six days after Katiti’s lawyers asked the health ministry to reinstate him.

Jooste denied putting pressure on the NIP board.

“The [health] minister and I discussed the contents of my letter yesterday [Tuesday]. This was merely a follow-up to seek an update for us to keep track of progress, and the processes followed,” Jooste told yesterday. The NIP board believes that it has the support of Haufiku, who does not want to interfere in the matter.

Haufiku confirmed receiving Jooste’s letter, but declined to comment. Katiti’s lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, wrote to Haufiku on 14 August 2018, suggesting that the NIP withdraws Katiti’s suspension.

“We humbly request you, comrade minister, that the suspension of Mr Katiti be lifted with immediate effect,” Metcalfe said.

The lawyer did not agree with the board’s decision to suspend Katiti to keep him from interfering with an investigation, saying the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia’s managing director, Immanuel Mulunga, has not been suspended, despite him being under investigation.

The NIP board appointed the entity’s chief internal auditor, Mecky Nghipandulwa, to act in Katiti’s position during his suspension.

Metcalfe confirmed writing to the minister, and said the payment of an acting allowance was an “unnecessary financial burden” for the NIP. Katiti is accused of turning a blind eye to several irregularities, including how the NIP contracted a company called ST Freight Service CC to transport NIP parcels across northern Namibia. The board believes that the NIP, under Katiti’s watch, approached three companies which are owned by one person, to transport NIP parcels. The board also questioned why NIP financed ST Freight Service CC’s purchase of six vehicles, and then registered them in the name of ST Freight Service CC.

Katiti has denied any wrongdoing in the past, and accused the board of focusing on irrelevant issues while people’s lives were at risk. The board believes that there was rampant corruption and nepotism at the NIP.

The NIP board first suspended chief operations officer Harold Kaura, chief financial officer Cleophas Mbahijova and chief strategy and business development officer Jennifer Kauapirura in June this year. Chief human capital officer Monika Pendukeni and chief technology officer Valerie Garises were suspended two weeks ago.