Anger at Gochas over bribery, nepotism claims

A VOLCANO of frustration has erupted among the villagers of Gochas, a tiny settlement 110 kilometres south-east of Mariental.

Some of the villagers claim the Village Secretary, Henry Bock, and the Village Council are involved in tender bribery and nepotism. Nearly 50 residents marched on the Council offices last Friday to express their anger.The group, calling itself the Gochas Concerned Community, claimed that the local tender board bypassed tender regulation procedures.They also claimed that people related to councillors benefit from job opportunities when projects aimed at employment creation get off the ground.The villagers singled out the employment of two councillors’ wives who are working on a controversial sewerage project.Bock denied most of the charges, but refused to comment on some complaints because he acknowledged he is the subject of an investigation the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing.He refused to comment on those charges.The local tender board consists of Bock, two Village Council staff members and one local resident, appointed by the Council.The concerned residents, led by Hendrik Witbooi, demanded the immediate cancellation of the N$590 000 sewerage project.They said Rehoboth Properties cc, the company which designed the project and oversees it, received the tender without it being published in any newspaper or displayed on notice boards at Gochas.The villagers said they want to know on what basis the tender was allocated to Rehoboth Properties.They insisted on knowing how the company obtained information to bid for the tender.The consulting company carried out a survey on the sewerage system of the village, created a design for the project and currently supervises the work.It received a consulting, design and supervision fee of N$ 55 000.The employment of councillor Simon Jossop and Japie Bock’s wives on the sewerage project also sparked dissatisfaction among the residents.Henry Bock is not related to Japie Bock.In addition, residents wanted to know what happened to N$150 000 funded by Government to start a cattle-farming project.That money had disappeared and they could not get answers, they said.Bock spoke to The Namibian for more than two hours on Wednesday at his office in the Village Council building.He said Rehoboth Properties cc was allocated the sewerage project tender because of rate competitiveness.He acknowledged that tenders were not invited from other companies, because Council approved a legal Tender Board recommendation to award Rehoboth Properties the tender “The council took the responsibility, because they are the owners,” he said.According to Bock, Rehoboth Properties visited the council out of the blue and made a presentation on consulting and design, and this where the business relationship started.However, Bock acknowledged that the project, only 10 days old, is already behind schedule.He said the earth-mover had to be replaced because it broke when trying to dig through the rock in the village streets.He said it would take at least an additional week to finish the trenches.Only half of one trench was dug by Wednesday and there is another trench that needs to be dug.He said the wives of council members were hired fairly by the consultant.Bock said the consultant wanted to hire 10 workers.About 40 people showed up when Bock posted a notice in the village for the jobs.He said the discontented residents told the applicants to go away and some of them did.Bock said 15 men and women stayed and the consultant agreed to hire all of them.He could not explain how the increased expense caused by hiring 50 per cent more workers than was budgeted would be taken care of.Witbooi, speaking on behalf of the unhappy residents, said the Council should have hired 100 people because there is 80 per cent unemployment in the village.”No employment creation means no development,” said Witbooi.The workers are paid N$50 a day.Bock could not show any documentation that provided money budgeted for the salaries of the workers.He said he believed the cost of salaries was included in Rehoboth Properties’ budgeted amount for “earthworks”.That amounted to N$145 000, he said.Bock said he would cut the size of the sewerage project – currently designed for 113 homes – to keep the project within the budgeted amount.Bock explained the missing cattle-project money by saying the village had experienced cash-flow problems last month.He said he decided, without Village Council approval, to pay the village’s NamWater and NamPower bills from the project money.”I had no council blessing, but informed them afterwards,” he said.The cash-flow problems were caused by villagers’ non-payment of water and electricity accounts, he said.The cattle project started in April, when the Council received a grant of N$150 000 and purchased 32 cattle for N$69 600.Bock said he knew he needed to improve a borehole to provide water to the cattle.A drilling company initially estimated the cost of fixing the borehole at N$39 000.But when the company went on site to start drilling, they told Bock the work was much more complicated and the cost would spiral to N$120 000.Because there was insufficient money to pay for this, Bock decided to sell 22 cattle.He said six of the cattle were stolen and the village still owns four cattle.The 22 cattle were auctioned for N$57 077,12.The auctioneer’s commission and VAT reduced the amount to N$54 928.Additional complaints made by the unhappy residents – for which Bock faces a disciplinary hearing by the Ministry of Regional and Local Government – include: * Willem Maasdorp of Aranos was hired to install electrical wires in houses but when he allegedly refused to pay a bribe he was barred from completing the job.* Bock was accused of using a Council vehicle and Council fuel to transport his own livestock to the communal area where his parents farm.This resulted in damage to a tyre and a trailer was lost in the process.Chairman of the Village Council, Simon Jossop, said yesterday he had reported the charges to a Mr Engelbrecht at the line Ministry.But Permanent Secretary Erastus Negonga yesterday said he was not aware of the investigation.Bock refused comment on those two pending charges.Nearly 50 residents marched on the Council offices last Friday to express their anger.The group, calling itself the Gochas Concerned Community, claimed that the local tender board bypassed tender regulation procedures.They also claimed that people related to councillors benefit from job opportunities when projects aimed at employment creation get off the ground.The villagers singled out the employment of two councillors’ wives who are working on a controversial sewerage project.Bock denied most of the charges, but refused to comment on some complaints because he acknowledged he is the subject of an investigation the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing.He refused to comment on those charges.The local tender board consists of Bock, two Village Council staff members and one local resident, appointed by the Council.The concerned residents, led by Hendrik Witbooi, demanded the immediate cancellation of the N$590 000 sewerage project.They said Rehoboth Properties cc, the company which designed the project and oversees it, received the tender without it being published in any newspaper or displayed on notice boards at Gochas.The villagers said they want to know on what basis the tender was allocated to Rehoboth Properties.They insisted on knowing how the company obtained information to bid for the tender.The consulting company carried out a survey on the sewerage system of the village, created a design for the project and currently supervises the work.It received a consulting, design and supervision fee of N$ 55 000.The employment of councillor Simon Jossop and Japie Bock’s wives on the sewerage project also sparked dissatisfaction among the residents.Henry Bock is not related to Japie Bock.In addition, residents wanted to know what happened to N$150 000 funded by Government to start a cattle-farming project.That money had disappeared and they could not get answers, they said.Bock spoke to The Namibian for more than two hours on Wednesday at his office in the Village Council building.He said Rehoboth Properties cc was allocated the sewerage project tender because of rate competitiveness.He acknowledged that tenders were not invited from other companies, because Council approved a legal Tender Board recommendation to award Rehoboth Properties the tender “The council took the responsibility, because they are the owners,” he said.According to Bock, Rehoboth Properties visited the council out of the blue and made a presentation on consulting and design, and this where the business relationship started.However, Bock acknowledged that the project, only 10 days old, is already behind schedule.He said the earth-mover had to be replaced because it broke when trying to dig through the rock in the village streets.He said it would take at least an additional week to finish the trenches.Only half of one trench was dug by Wednesday and there is another trench that needs to be dug.He said the wives of council members were hired fairly by the consultant.Bock said the consultant wanted to hire 10 workers.About 40 people showed up when Bock posted a notice in the village for the jobs.He said the discontented residents told the applicants to go away and some of them did.Bock said 15 men and women stayed and the consultant agreed to hire all of them.He could not explain how the increased expense caused by hiring 50 per cent more workers than was budgeted would be taken care of.Witbooi, speaking on behalf of the unhappy residents, said the Council should have hired 100 people because there is 80 per cent unemployment in the village.”No employment creation means no development,” said Witbooi.The workers are paid N$50 a day.Bock could not show any documentation that provided money budgeted for the salaries of the workers.He said he believed the cost of salaries was included in Rehoboth Properties’ budgeted amount for “earthworks”.That amounted to N$145 000, he said.Bock said he would cut the size of the sewerage project – currently designed for 113 homes – to keep the project within the budgeted amount.Bock explained the missing cattle-project money by saying the village had experienced cash-flow problems last month.He said he decided, without Village Council approval, to pay the village’s NamWater and NamPower bills from the project money.”I had no council blessing, but informed them afterwards,” he said.The cash-flow problems were caused by villagers’ non-payment of water and electricity accounts, he said.The cattle project started in April, when the Council received a grant of N$150 000 and purchased 32 cattle for N$69 600.Bock said he knew he needed to improve a borehole to provide water to the cattle.A drilling company initially estimated the cost of fixing the borehole at N$39 000.But when the company went on site to start drilling, they told Bock the work was much more complicated and the cost would spiral to N$120 000.Because there was insufficient money to pay for this, Bock decided to sell 22 cattle.He said six of the cattle were stolen and the village still owns four cattle.The 22 cattle were auctioned for N$57 077,12.The auctioneer’s commission and VAT reduced the amount to N$54 928.Additional complaints made by the unhappy residents – for which Bock faces a disciplinary hearing by the Ministry of Regional and Local Government – include: * Willem Maasdorp of Aranos was hired to install electrical wires in houses but when he allegedly refused to pay a bribe he was barred from completing the job.* Bock was accused of using a Council vehicle and Council fuel to transport his own livestock to the communal area where his parents farm.This resulted in damage to a tyre and a trailer was lost in the process.Chairman of the Village Council, Simon Jossop, said yesterday he had reported the charges to a Mr Engelbrecht at the line Ministry.But Permanent Secretary Erastus Negonga yesterday said he was not aware of the investigation.Bock refused comment on those two pending charges.