Aupindi’s friend in fishing ‘facilitation’ deal

BUSINESSMAN Olavi Hamutumwa’s company was paid N$800 000 as a ‘facilitation fee’ to secure a fishing quota from a state-owned fishing agency of which the board was led by Tobie Aupindi.

Hamutumwa and Aupindi are said to be close friends.

Hamutumwa has been a rising star in the fishing sector for years.

Two years ago he led a consortium that bought a 49% stake in the Tunacor Group – a politically connected fishing company owned by presidential children.

Now, Hamutumwa’s name has cropped up in a transaction linked to the Fishrot corruption scandal involving a deal with the state-owned Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust (NFCPT).

Hamutumwa told The Namibian over the weekend he submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Commision as requested.

The Namibian reported last week that the NFCPT investigation report contained an allegation by whistleblower Johannes Stefánsson that he paid Aupindi – code-named ‘Mr Chairman’ – N$1 million cash in 2012.

Aupindi has denied knowledge of this transaction, saying the allegation is “vague, embarrassing, and unfounded”.

However, another murky transaction is linked to Aupindi involving Hamutumwa.

It dates back to 2012 when Aupindi was the chairperson of the NFCPT, which was set up to make fish affordable to Namibians.

The NFCPT advertised a tender in December 2011, asking companies to catch the fishing quota it receives from the government.

That’s how Hamutumwa came into the picture.

His company Ongudi Investment submitted a bid on 28 January 2012 to catch the NFCPT’s fish that month.

Hamutumwa then made a bid presentation to the NFCPT board led by Aupindi.

“Ongudi’s proposal to the NFCPT was to catch, package and make fish available to the NFCPT,” Hamutumwa said on Saturday.

The NFCPT then gave Ongudi a deal to catch its 8 000 tonnes of fish in February 2012.

There was a problem though: Ongudi did not own a vessel for catching the fish.

Hamutumwa’s next move was to negotiate with Katla Seafood, a company owned by Samherji, to catch the 8 000 tonnes for NFCPT.

Samherji owned a fishing vessel.

A document seen by shows that Hamutumwa and Samherji’s Katla Seafood struck a deal on 8 March 2012.

It was signed between Stefánsson, who represented Katla Seafood, and Hamutumwa, who represented Ongudi Investment.

The agreement says Katla Seafood “irrevocably undertakes to pay Ongudi an amount of N$800 000” as a facilitation fee if an agreement is reached to catch the quota of the NFCPT for the 2012 fishing season.

The amount, the agreement said, would only be paid if there is proof that Hamutumwa’s company signed a catching agreement with the NFCPT.

According to the document, Ongudi could sue if Katla Seafood “fails to pay the facilitation fee to the nominated banking account to Ongudi within three working days after signature date”.

Industry sources last week questioned this transaction.

The two are said to have been friends for years. So far, Aupindi’s lawyers have refused to prove that he recused himself from a transaction involving his friend.

The other concern was why a state-owned agency entrusted to make fish affordable was using a middleman company to catch its fishing quota.

“The question that begs to be answered is this: Why did the fish consumption trust appoint a company that does not have a vessel to go and catch its quota? Why could they not go directly to operators (vessel owners)?” a source familiar with this transaction said.