Confusion over Council property

THE Hardap Regional Council was to hold a special meeting last night after a senior council employee was almost arrested on Friday for the alleged theft of council property.

Police, acting on a tip-off and armed with a search warrant, raided the farm of Council Control Officer Leonard Stefanus on Friday, but refrained from arresting him after hearing that the Hardap Chief Regional Officer (CRO) had authorised that council property be stored there. The property includes 24 armchairs, 52 other chairs, 21 HIV campaign books, 40 electric boxes, five window frames, three windows, four door frames, one roll of black pipe, two steel cabinets, two floor mats, four notice boards, one typewriter, one letter tray, three steel beds, one bicycle, one shelf, two big cupboards, one wooden cabinet, one flipchart, one wooden table, one roll of electric cable, one pigeon hole and cleaning material.However, the authority of CRO James Sankwasa was questioned by Hardap Governor Katrina Hanse over the weekend.She expressed shock about the discovery.Hanse said she could not recall Council approving the storage of the items at Stefanus’s farm.”I was totally shocked when Police informed me about the discovery.Something terrible must have gone wrong, since the storage of the items at the farm does not carry the council’s mandate,” she said.Sankwasa confirmed to The Namibian that he had authorised the storage of property at Stefanus’s farm.According to him, he acted in accordance with treasury regulation KA 0401, which he says clearly stipulates that he, as the accounting officer, is solely responsible for the handling of Council stock.Explaining how the Council goods ended up at his farm, Stefanus said the items had previously been stored in disused toilets at a school hostel at Mariental because of a lack of storage space at the Council offices.The toilets were then converted into offices, and during this time, alternative storage had to be found for the Council items.It was then agreed between Stefanus and Sankwasa that the goods would be stored at Stefanus’s farm.”I even declined an offer by Sankwasa to go into a rent agreement with the council,” he said, fearing that that could look suspicious.”But as of Friday I should actually charge them.I’ve instructed my workers at the farm to put all those items on the veranda.As of Friday, April 7, I take no responsibility for that property,” he said.Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Sankwasa said his working relationship with Governor Hanse had never been good and that he was expecting to be suspended following last night’s meeting.”My conscience is clear.I’ve told the Council that I’d rather be suspended for doing something right than pleasing an individual by doing illegal things,” he said.He said he believed that someone was trying to get him out of office by any means necessary, and that this was just another nail in the coffin.Sankwasa has also come under suspicion of possible involvement in fraudulent activities with respect to subsistence and travel (S&T) allowances, something he says has yet to be proven.* Additional reporting by Denver Isaacs.The property includes 24 armchairs, 52 other chairs, 21 HIV campaign books, 40 electric boxes, five window frames, three windows, four door frames, one roll of black pipe, two steel cabinets, two floor mats, four notice boards, one typewriter, one letter tray, three steel beds, one bicycle, one shelf, two big cupboards, one wooden cabinet, one flipchart, one wooden table, one roll of electric cable, one pigeon hole and cleaning material.However, the authority of CRO James Sankwasa was questioned by Hardap Governor Katrina Hanse over the weekend.She expressed shock about the discovery.Hanse said she could not recall Council approving the storage of the items at Stefanus’s farm.”I was totally shocked when Police informed me about the discovery.Something terrible must have gone wrong, since the storage of the items at the farm does not carry the council’s mandate,” she said.Sankwasa confirmed to The Namibian that he had authorised the storage of property at Stefanus’s farm.According to him, he acted in accordance with treasury regulation KA 0401, which he says clearly stipulates that he, as the accounting officer, is solely responsible for the handling of Council stock.Explaining how the Council goods ended up at his farm, Stefanus said the items had previously been stored in disused toilets at a school hostel at Mariental because of a lack of storage space at the Council offices.The toilets were then converted into offices, and during this time, alternative storage had to be found for the Council items.It was then agreed between Stefanus and Sankwasa that the goods would be stored at Stefanus’s farm.”I even declined an offer by Sankwasa to go into a rent agreement with the council,” he said, fearing that that could look suspicious.”But as of Friday I should actually charge them.I’ve instructed my workers at the farm to put all those items on the veranda.As of Friday, April 7, I take no responsibility for that property,” he said. Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Sankwasa said his working relationship with Governor Hanse had never been good and that he was expecting to be suspended following last night’s meeting.”My conscience is clear.I’ve told the Council that I’d rather be suspended for doing something right than pleasing an individual by doing illegal things,” he said.He said he believed that someone was trying to get him out of office by any means necessary, and that this was just another nail in the coffin.Sankwasa has also come under suspicion of possible involvement in fraudulent activities with respect to subsistence and travel (S&T) allowances, something he says has yet to be proven.* Additional reporting by Denver Isaacs.