Ministry to investigate hostel food

THE Ministry of Basic Education will launch an investigation into the alleged provision of sub-standard food and the rigging of catering contracts in State-run school hostels, its Permanent Secretary Vitalis Ankama said in a statement issued last Friday.

“The Ministry of Education acknowledges that what is allegedly happening in our State-run school hostels as reported in the article in The Namibian is a serious matter and very alarming,” Ankama wrote in the statement. The announcement came after The Namibian on Friday exposed how the Catering Association of Namibia (CAN) and its seven member companies were using seaweed-derived products, namely sodium alginate and calcium alginate, to illegally boost meat and milk volumes.While the products themselves are not illegal – they have a wide range of uses, including industrial ones and are ranked as a Category 1 chemical hazard by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – it is the amount that is being used to bulk up meat and milk products that poses the largest health risk.None of the meat and milk products supplied by CAN’s two plants met the quite stringent nutritional requirements set out in Independence Caterers’ contract, a copy of which The Namibian has obtained.Independence Caterers, which has the largest such three-year contract, is majority owned by caterer Ed Davies, businessman Aaron Mushimba and an outfit called Okakarara Meat Mart.Former Swiss chef Heinz Forster, the founding member of Independence Caterers in 1989, said over the weekend that Mushimba, upon assuming chairmanship of the company’s board of directors 1996, had started pushing for ways to cut corners and maximise profits.”It became very clear what he was trying to do, so I got out (of the company),” Forster said in a telephonic interview from South Africa.He also accused Mushimba of using an illegal scheme to use Independence Caterers’ company funds to buy Forster out by channelling the money via Mushimba’s former City Savings and Investment Bank.Mushimba did not answer his cell phone yesterday, while Davies has since moved to New Zealand and could not be reached for comment.CAN’s chief nutritionist, Ida Erasmus, had warned in November last year in an internal memorandum that the amount of sodium (salt) added by the company’s meat plant in Otjiwarongo and its packing plant in Outjo (Nutrifoods) was endangering children’s health.In some samples, she found up to five teaspoons full of sodium per 100g of meat patty, which she stated posed a clear health hazard.This could cause serious kidney problems and osteoporosis (weakening of the bone structure), as well as pose very serious risks to the hearts of children with high blood pressure.Independent tests commissioned by The Namibian confirmed Erasmus’ warnings, with none of the meat or milk samples obtained from CAN’s plants passing muster as real meat or milk.The Outjo and Otjiwarongo plants are owned by an off-the-shelf outfit called Norton Investments Nineteen, which is owned by Mushimba (20%), Ed Davies (20%), accountant Johan Penderis (20%), with the balance owned in equal shares by Otjiwarongo butcher Richard Owen, South African businessman Meinrad Bodner and Penderis’s subordinate, Reinhard Haenisch.Other industry sources said over the weekend that Cabinet had in 2001 or 2002 launched an investigation into just such allegations of cheating and tender rigging, but that the report ended up being a whitewash and was never released.While Independence Caterers’ contract explicitly states that no single catering company may hold more than two regions under contract, this appeared to have been circumvented by arranging Namibia’s school hostels into only four – instead of the official 13 – regions, thereby giving Independence Caterers the majority (68) of hostels to supply.Ankama said in his statement that he agreed that if this was true, it would be highly unfair.”The Ministry also agrees with the reporter that it will be unfair if one company is being awarded many catering contracts under the pretence of different companies as alleged in the news report,” he stated.Independence Caterers also hold contracts to supply food to State hospitals run by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and does so with the same hazardous products, The Namibian has established.”The Ministry would therefore like to thank The Namibian newspaper for exposing the alleged profiteering and cheating problem and bringing it into the public sphere,” Ankama noted.”We therefore encourage and support the media to expose any malpractice suspected in the hostel catering contracts and practices.”* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587The announcement came after The Namibian on Friday exposed how the Catering Association of Namibia (CAN) and its seven member companies were using seaweed-derived products, namely sodium alginate and calcium alginate, to illegally boost meat and milk volumes.While the products themselves are not illegal – they have a wide range of uses, including industrial ones and are ranked as a Category 1 chemical hazard by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – it is the amount that is being used to bulk up meat and milk products that poses the largest health risk. None of the meat and milk products supplied by CAN’s two plants met the quite stringent nutritional requirements set out in Independence Caterers’ contract, a copy of which The Namibian has obtained.Independence Caterers, which has the largest such three-year contract, is majority owned by caterer Ed Davies, businessman Aaron Mushimba and an outfit called Okakarara Meat Mart.Former Swiss chef Heinz Forster, the founding member of Independence Caterers in 1989, said over the weekend that Mushimba, upon assuming chairmanship of the company’s board of directors 1996, had started pushing for ways to cut corners and maximise profits.”It became very clear what he was trying to do, so I got out (of the company),” Forster said in a telephonic interview from South Africa.He also accused Mushimba of using an illegal scheme to use Independence Caterers’ company funds to buy Forster out by channelling the money via Mushimba’s former City Savings and Investment Bank.Mushimba did not answer his cell phone yesterday, while Davies has since moved to New Zealand and could not be reached for comment. CAN’s chief nutritionist, Ida Erasmus, had warned in November last year in an internal memorandum that the amount of sodium (salt) added by the company’s meat plant in Otjiwarongo and its packing plant in Outjo (Nutrifoods) was endangering children’s health.In some samples, she found up to five teaspoons full of sodium per 100g of meat patty, which she stated posed a clear health hazard.This could cause serious kidney problems and osteoporosis (weakening of the bone structure), as well as pose very serious risks to the hearts of children with high blood pressure.Independent tests commissioned by The Namibian confirmed Erasmus’ warnings, with none of the meat or milk samples obtained from CAN’s plants passing muster as real meat or milk.The Outjo and Otjiwarongo plants are owned by an off-the-shelf outfit called Norton Investments Nineteen, which is owned by Mushimba (20%), Ed Davies (20%), accountant Johan Penderis (20%), with the balance owned in equal shares by Otjiwarongo butcher Richard Owen, South African businessman Meinrad Bodner and Penderis’s subordinate, Reinhard Haenisch. Other industry sources said over the weekend that Cabinet had in 2001 or 2002 launched an investigation into just such allegations of cheating and tender rigging, but that the report ended up being a whitewash and was never released.While Independence Caterers’ contract explicitly states that no single catering company may hold more than two regions under contract, this appeared to have been circumvented by arranging Namibia’s school hostels into only four – instead of the official 13 – regions, thereby giving Independence Caterers the majority (68) of hostels to supply.Ankama said in his statement that he agreed that if this was true, it would be highly unfair.”The Ministry also agrees with the reporter that it will be unfair if one company is being awarded many catering contracts under the pretence of different companies as alleged in the news report,” he stated.Independence Caterers also hold contracts to supply food to State hospitals run by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and does so with the same hazardous products, The Namibian has established.”The Ministry would therefore like to thank The Namibian newspaper for exposing the alleged profiteering and cheating problem and bringing it into the public sphere,” Ankama noted.”We therefore encourage and support the media to expose any malpractice suspected in the hostel catering contracts and practices.” * John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587