Former minister of labour Marlene Mungunda says she is unable to pay back the full amount of N$27 000 she owes a guest house owner after staying there for 21 days.
“I am currently unemployed and unable to pay back the full amount, so I have reached out to her lawyers to agree on a monthly settlement of N$500 per month from April 2023,” Mungunda said on Tuesday.
Martha Nambabi, the owner of Naita-Namwaala Essence Africa guesthouse, says Mungunda visited her offices on 1 June 2022, saying her expenses would be covered by the Sam Nujoma Foundation.
“I contacted a lawyer at Sisa Namandje, and Mungunda was served a summons, but did not defend herself. Instead, she visited the office asking to pay N$500 per month.
“I refused her offer. I am not ready to accept the N$500 per month, considering Mungunda has been very rude to me, saying I am nothing and that we should meet in court,” Nambabi says.
She says considering the amount owed, N$500 per month was too little and would take too long to settle.
This would not cover her legal fees either, Nambabi says.
She says Mungunda’s claims were false and aimed to discredit her as a senior Swapo official and former deputy minister.
“After introducing herself as a member of parliament, Mungunda informed me that she and her guest, Udilange Nakamela, are working on a project at the request of the founding president, to write the autobiography of the late Hendrik Witbooi,” Nambabi says.
BACKGROUND
In screenshots of shared text messages between herself and Mungunda on 2 July 2022, Nambabi showed that Mungunda said the invoice would be submitted on Tuesday, 5 July 2022 and payment would be done the following week.
On 6 July 2022, Nambabi told Mungunda that she would inform the Sam Nujoma Foundation of the non-payment, as well as register a case of theft with the police.
Mungunda replied: “Go and do that, I am a lawmaker and you do not have a foot to stand on. I have paid up lawyers with Legal Shield.”
In August 2022, The Namibian reached out to the chairperson of the Sam Nujoma Foundation, Nahas Angula, who said it is unfortunate that Mungunda made use of services with the expectation that the foundation would pay.
“She was supposed to consult the foundation to ask if we can pay or not. That is very unfortunate because the foundation works on a budget,” he said.
In a letter replying to Nambabi’s complaint, Angula said: “Even though I am most concerned at the inconvenience and the loss you suffered due to the unpaid invoice, I wish to emphatically point out that the board has never taken any resolution to spend the resources of the foundation on the aforementioned project, nor has it consented to cover the cost for accommodation and meals incurred by Nakamela, or the instruction of Mungunda.”
“To this end, I regret to inform you that the board cannot, under any circumstance, pay for the outstanding invoice as you have committed yourselves to provide services without due diligence by way of supporting documents such as a letter of approval, purchase order or let alone making a phone call to verify if there is such an agreement with the foundation to cover the costs.”
Angula further advised Nambabi to seek alternative avenues to recover the cost incurred.
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