‘Pay back the money’

… mineworkers demand answers on missing millions

Former and current members of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) are questioning the whereabouts of millions they have paid in dividends, which they claim they have not benefited from in 27 years.

Ndumba Kayundu, the chairperson of the Association of Mineworkers Beneficiaries Namibia (Ambena) this month told The Namibian the association want an explanation and the repayment of N$2 million paid to board chairperson John Ndeutepo.
Kayundu in a petition sent to MUN, said the money should be returned to the Miners Investment Trust (Namit) account.

“The N$2 million or N$3,2 million paid to Ndeutapo should be explained and repaid to the fund, as we were not informed about this payment. Immediate payment should be made to all beneficiaries by the trust fund. All trustees and directors with conflicts of interest, who provide services to the fund, should be investigated,” he said.

Kayundu said all trustees and directors with a conflict of interest by providing service to the fund should be investigated.

“We demand an explanation on why the Namit deed of trust has been amended twice without the members’ knowledge. The current MUN office-bearers must stop the corrupt activities practised in MUN and its business arm Namibia Mining Investment Company (Nam-Mic), and remove all the corrupt people who are deploying themselves as directors and trustees,” he said.

Kayundu called on the board to explain how Ndeutepo gave himself an unadvertised tender.

“… and pay himself the amount of more than N$2 million.

“The Nam-Mic and Namit board must explain all the financial reports for all the subsidiaries, from 1997 up to 2024,” he said.

When approached for comment, MUN secretary general George Ampweya said the union would discuss the demands raised by Ambena at a later stage.

“We have received the petition. We are going to have a leadership meeting soon, since the petition was directed to the board as well. We will discuss the demands in the meeting and revert back to you,” he said.

OTHER DEMANDS

According to Kayundu in the petition, the MUN has questioned the board about benefits, and has requested meeting with the board, which has been refused.

“Whatever belongs to the union is ours. We have established Nam-Mic as our business arm, and all that was done for our own benefit. To our surprise, since 1997 up to date, 27 years down the line – zero benefit to ourselves.

“In 2019 to 2020 the Nam-Mic and Namit boards approached the former and current MUN members with Namit forms to complete, apparently to receive our shares. The question is: What happened to the above-mentioned promises?

“If one looks at the chairperson’s annual reports, millions of dollars were paid in dividends and apparently also to the needy, but zero benefit to us, the owners,” he said.

Kayundu has asked MUN to call for an extraordinary congress to address the situation facing the union, which he has described as “messy”.

“We demand that the MUN recognise Ambena and their members to take part and have all seats in all boards. We demand the financial statements and audit reports, including all the properties of Nam-Mic and our Namit trust,” he said.

Namit has since denied the allegations, questioning the payment of N$2 million made to Ndeutepo.

This involved a database project for the MUN, which Namit says was carried out by Ndeutepo and 12 administrative staff members.

Namit says the payments Ndeutepo received came from an approved budget, which was not for personal use.

The scrutiny stems from concerns over a potential conflict of interest, since Ndeutepo reports to the same union that hired him for private work.

The Swapo-affiliated MUN was in the news this year when its current bosses announced the suspension of former president Ismael Kasuto and former vice president Desley Samsob, a move described by some as a union-style coup d’état.