RA report ‘hard hitting’

THE commission of inquiry into the Roads Administration (RA) has promised to issue a report that could substantially alter the operations of agencies that maintain Namibia’s transport network.

The report will be submitted to President Sam Nujoma on Thursday, according to Kenandei Tjivikua, Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Activities, Affairs, Management and Operations of the Roads Authority and the Road Fund Administration (RFA). By the end of last week, commission members were at the printing presses keeping a close eye on the report that has been prepared for whatever steps President Nujoma may decide to take.If previous inquiries are anything to go by, the report is unlikely to be made public, but Tjivikua said their work was “worth the while”.”We will make substantive recommendations.We went to a great extent to test all the allegations,” he said.The commission was appointed in July after allegations first emerged that as much as N$300 million might have gone missing through bribery and inflated roadworks contracts.CAN OF WORMSWhen the public hearings began in November, suggestions became prevalent that money meant for roads had been siphoned off at the Roads Authority.But the overriding impression was that a considerable amount of money might have been wasted through poor management and wrong decisions.The hearing focused more on the Roads Authority than the RFA.It emerged that more than 30 policies at the parastatal were a hindrance to operations rather than a help.The hearing heard that irregularities and illegalities were reduced to conflicts of interests; expatriate experts allegedly feathered their own nests instead of training Namibians; one-upmanship was rife; and management and directors paid themselves hefty salaries and fees.Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justin Runji’s salary, which jumped from N$550 000 in 2000 to N$844 000 in 2003, provoked questions about the need for a non-profit State-owned company that spent nearly N$1 billion a year.Car allowances, ranging from N$6 500 to over N$11 000 for top managers, also came under scrutiny.Inept handling by the human resources division had left many staff members without employment contracts.Some workers were overpaid, costing the Roads Authority N$400 000.SOAP OPERAAs claims and counter-claims were levelled, the hearing at times took on soap opera proportions.Starring in the main role was Sophia Tekie, Manager for the Road Management System, a computer analyst of road conditions.Tekie, since dubbed the main whistleblower, was the inquiry’s version of David taking on several Goliaths.The other main star was Rosa Nakale.As General Manager in charge of Administration at the RA, Nakale was accused of acting like a military commander, earning herself the title ‘The General’.At her side, the rest of top management – CEO Runji, Divisional Engineers Lawrence Kiggundu, Peter Thiemann, Friedrich Poolman as well as Finance Manager Franzina !Nowases and Human Resources Manager Dapewa Walther – faced sharp scrutiny.Tekie’s backers were mainly lowly ranked but disgruntled staff, who accused the top administrators of having caused widespread low morale.She led testimony about possible corruption involving favouritism and bribery although she gradually toned it down to allegations of poor management and ill-advised choices when multi-million dollar contracts were awarded.She questioned the rebuilding of the Okahandja-Otjiwarongo highway at N$180 million, where the RMS showed it could have been improved for no more than N$80 million.It emerged that Kiggundu’s two children had received bursaries from Windhoek Consulting Engineers (WCE), the firm that won the tender to oversee the rebuilding of the road.But both Kiggundu and WCE representatives denied the bursaries had anything to do with the firms link to the Roads Authority.SQUABBLESInternal fights between Tekie and the rest of management became public.It emerged that Tekie had written to Government after Runji became CEO, to let it be known they had made the wrong choice.She went as far as to contact State House and described what she alleged as favouritism, poor management and a lack of training for Namibians.Tekie said her confidential letters to the Office of the President quickly found their way to Nakale and Runji.At the beginning of 2003, after years of Tekie awarding computer contracts to her brother’s company, she was accused of failing to adhere to company procurement procedures.Though she did not deny awarding contracts to her brother, Tekie said she was singled out only because she had questioned many decisions and the awarding of roads and administration contracts.The chairman at the hearing proposed that she be fired, but the Board gave her a second chance, only for more of the same charges to be revived.By then Tekie appeared to have raised enough alarm, which later led to the appointment of the commission of inquiry.The charges were put on hold during the public hearing, but were soon brought back to life last month.A memo that Runji wrote to Tekie said management felt they could no longer work with her and that she must leave the RA.While the charges against Tekie appeared to have substance, the timing seemed strategic and to border on revenge for her decision to involve the President, which eventually led to the commission of inquiry.No mention has been made of the possibly negligent behaviour of the auditors who did not unearth Tekie’s alleged wrongdoing for several years.VICTIMISATION?Runji last week maintained that there had been no ‘victimisation’ of staff for testifying at the hearings.”Nobody has the right to hide behind the commission.You cannot stay away from work and continue to get paid.You’ll be fired,” he said referring to reports that at least one staff member claimed he was being harassed because of his testimony at the hearings – though his testimony had contained no attack on management.Tjivikua, the inquiry’s chairman, said it would be difficult to intervene on questions of victimisation without hearing all sides of the story.”The commission has made its observations and recommendations in the report,” said Tjivikua.Asked during the hearings how he summed up his time at the Roads Authority, German expatriate Jeurgen Oelker said:”The Roads Authority I worked for was a holy mess… I feel sorry for Namibians if it goes on like this.”As far as Tjivikua and his fellow commissioners are concerned, the proverbial ball will be in the President’s court once the report is handed over on Thursday.By the end of last week, commission members were at the printing presses keeping a close eye on the report that has been prepared for whatever steps President Nujoma may decide to take.If previous inquiries are anything to go by, the report is unlikely to be made public, but Tjivikua said their work was “worth the while”.”We will make substantive recommendations.We went to a great extent to test all the allegations,” he said.The commission was appointed in July after allegations first emerged that as much as N$300 million might have gone missing through bribery and inflated roadworks contracts.CAN OF WORMSWhen the public hearings began in November, suggestions became prevalent that money meant for roads had been siphoned off at the Roads Authority.But the overriding impression was that a considerable amount of money might have been wasted through poor management and wrong decisions.The hearing focused more on the Roads Authority than the RFA.It emerged that more than 30 policies at the parastatal were a hindrance to operations rather than a help.The hearing heard that irregularities and illegalities were reduced to conflicts of interests; expatriate experts allegedly feathered their own nests instead of training Namibians; one-upmanship was rife; and management and directors paid themselves hefty salaries and fees.Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justin Runji’s salary, which jumped from N$550 000 in 2000 to N$844 000 in 2003, provoked questions about the need for a non-profit State-owned company that spent nearly N$1 billion a year.Car allowances, ranging fr
om N$6 500 to over N$11 000 for top managers, also came under scrutiny.Inept handling by the human resources division had left many staff members without employment contracts.Some workers were overpaid, costing the Roads Authority N$400 000.SOAP OPERAAs claims and counter-claims were levelled, the hearing at times took on soap opera proportions.Starring in the main role was Sophia Tekie, Manager for the Road Management System, a computer analyst of road conditions.Tekie, since dubbed the main whistleblower, was the inquiry’s version of David taking on several Goliaths.The other main star was Rosa Nakale.As General Manager in charge of Administration at the RA, Nakale was accused of acting like a military commander, earning herself the title ‘The General’.At her side, the rest of top management – CEO Runji, Divisional Engineers Lawrence Kiggundu, Peter Thiemann, Friedrich Poolman as well as Finance Manager Franzina !Nowases and Human Resources Manager Dapewa Walther – faced sharp scrutiny.Tekie’s backers were mainly lowly ranked but disgruntled staff, who accused the top administrators of having caused widespread low morale.She led testimony about possible corruption involving favouritism and bribery although she gradually toned it down to allegations of poor management and ill-advised choices when multi-million dollar contracts were awarded.She questioned the rebuilding of the Okahandja-Otjiwarongo highway at N$180 million, where the RMS showed it could have been improved for no more than N$80 million.It emerged that Kiggundu’s two children had received bursaries from Windhoek Consulting Engineers (WCE), the firm that won the tender to oversee the rebuilding of the road.But both Kiggundu and WCE representatives denied the bursaries had anything to do with the firms link to the Roads Authority.SQUABBLESInternal fights between Tekie and the rest of management became public.It emerged that Tekie had written to Government after Runji became CEO, to let it be known they had made the wrong choice.She went as far as to contact State House and described what she alleged as favouritism, poor management and a lack of training for Namibians.Tekie said her confidential letters to the Office of the President quickly found their way to Nakale and Runji.At the beginning of 2003, after years of Tekie awarding computer contracts to her brother’s company, she was accused of failing to adhere to company procurement procedures.Though she did not deny awarding contracts to her brother, Tekie said she was singled out only because she had questioned many decisions and the awarding of roads and administration contracts.The chairman at the hearing proposed that she be fired, but the Board gave her a second chance, only for more of the same charges to be revived.By then Tekie appeared to have raised enough alarm, which later led to the appointment of the commission of inquiry.The charges were put on hold during the public hearing, but were soon brought back to life last month.A memo that Runji wrote to Tekie said management felt they could no longer work with her and that she must leave the RA.While the charges against Tekie appeared to have substance, the timing seemed strategic and to border on revenge for her decision to involve the President, which eventually led to the commission of inquiry.No mention has been made of the possibly negligent behaviour of the auditors who did not unearth Tekie’s alleged wrongdoing for several years.VICTIMISATION?Runji last week maintained that there had been no ‘victimisation’ of staff for testifying at the hearings.”Nobody has the right to hide behind the commission.You cannot stay away from work and continue to get paid.You’ll be fired,” he said referring to reports that at least one staff member claimed he was being harassed because of his testimony at the hearings – though his testimony had contained no attack on management.Tjivikua, the inquiry’s chairman, said it would be difficult to intervene on questions of victimisation without hearing all sides of the story.”The commission has made its observations and recommendations in the report,” said Tjivikua.Asked during the hearings how he summed up his time at the Roads Authority, German expatriate Jeurgen Oelker said:”The Roads Authority I worked for was a holy mess… I feel sorry for Namibians if it goes on like this.”As far as Tjivikua and his fellow commissioners are concerned, the proverbial ball will be in the President’s court once the report is handed over on Thursday.