Amta workers demand answers

THE deputy chairperson of the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (Amta) board, Desiderius Tshikesho, says they are “seriously concerned” that the agency is paying N$1,6 million a year to rent a dilapidated building at Oshikango.

Tshikesho made these comments when asked by The Namibian yesterday on what the board is doing to address concerns by Amta workers “to sort out this mess” after years of alleged rife corruption, incompetence and maladministration.

The memo titled ‘Amta employees’, sent to unions on 11 June 2019, said the “board that allowed all this corrupt and evil acts has been there since 2013, but no one seems to care to remove them for failing to do their job”.

The memo continued: “Amta pays N$140 000 per month for a place that is not even being used at Oshikango; it does not benefit Amta in any way. An audit report recommended for such payments to be stopped because it was draining the Amta coffers, but to no avail”.

Tshikesho responded to The Namibian yesterday that “we are looking into the Oshikango building issue because we are seriously concerned. It’s under discussion”.

It’s unclear why the Amta board did not act, especially since it was briefed in November last year that the building was a health hazard.

Amta agreed to pay Shapumba Tower Investment CC around N$140 000 per month from December 2015 to December 2020 for renting the Oshikango warehouse.

That company is owned by businessman Erastus ‘Chicco’ Shapumba, who denied any wrongdoing.

“Overall, the facility is in a dilapidated state, and not optimally utilised,” a report submitted to the board last year said.

Amta, an agency formed to improve Namibia’s food security by selling fresh produce, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, including allegations of rife corruption.

It has been relying on bailouts from the government since it started operating. The parastatal received around N$30 million from the national budget in the last two years.

That honeymoon appears to be over, as finances have now dried up.

This comes at a time when the board is under pressure to decide whether to keep Amta’s managing director Lungameni Lucas since his five-year contract ends this month.

understands that the board has failed to hold meetings due to a lack of quorum.

Tshikesho yesterday said the future of the managing director will be resolved soon.

“You will know by the end of this month on the way forward,” he added.

The board decided last year not to renew his contract, but there has been speculation of a push to keep the controversial executive for five more years.

The Amta board has for years been run by directors who turned a blind eye to allegations of corruption.

Those directors who often reported cases of corruption were pushed to quit, a source said. Another board director is said to have resigned recently. This makes it two resignations in five months.

Tshikesho said Amta will be self-sustaining, if the plans of the board succeed.

“The issue of state-owned enterprises getting money from the government is not sustainable,” he stressed.

Amta workers asked, in a letter dated 11 June 2019, for the government to sort out the mess at the agency formed in 2013.

“Employees are victimised, humiliated, intimidated and threatened for speaking out. There is no recognition for good work done, and promotions have only happened to those with close relations to human resources or the managing director,” the workers wrote to the Public Service Union of Namibia.

According to the workers, Amta asked a private company to evaluate Amta’s pay structures, but those recommendations were not fully implemented, except for the managers.

Workers also complained that there are too many disciplinary hearings against employees for issues cooked up by management.

Amta cancelled an agreement with Fysal Brenner from Fysal Fresh Produce to buy produce from various producers in Namibia as well as the Southern African Development Community region, and to buy 120 metric tonnes of produce per month for the Ongwediva fresh produce hub.