The DTA of Namibia insists that the Swapo Government investigate all cases in which taxpayers’ money has been recklessly or fraudulently squandered and bring the guilty parties to book.

They can start their investigations with the !Uri !Khubis abattoir, the buying of the Nando’s franchise and the payout of N$2.7 million to Mr. Katiti who resigned as Chief Executive Officer of the Walvis Bay Municipality. The amounts involved in the first two cases will make Paulus Kapia’s amount look like peanuts.

The DTA of Namibia took note of the case filed with the High Court earlier this year in which Mr. Kapia (a candidate on the list of 72 of the Swapo Party) and three other directors of Sesura Pharma are accused of having carried out the business of Sesura Pharma recklessly or with the intent to defraud Government. Government is suing the directors for the amount of N$ 2.6 million.

Although the DTA is not privy to the detailed information of this case we support in principle the actions taken by Government and should the four directors be proven guilty in court they must repay the amount claimed from them.
The DTA of Namibia, however, finds it strange that only this case is currently in court. We almost get the impression that Mr. Kapia will once again be used as a scapegoat to illustrate that the Swapo Government is in fact serious about fighting corruption.

The Swapo Government can, however, only fool some of the people some of the time. We all know that there were many other similar cases and the question must be asked why are they only picking on poor Kapia?

Just to refresh the minds in Government we want to quote from a report in the Namibian newspaper of 18 July 2005 that says the following:

“The calls came against a backdrop of rising concerns among the public that a few fat cats had emerged in post-Independence Namibia under the guise of empowerment while the majority continued to wallow in poverty.”

In the same report the following is said:

“Tarah Shaanika, chief executive officer of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), said there was need to investigate and bring to book individuals and institutions that abused BEE-related monies.”

The report goes on to say,

“Poor management has seen millions of dollars, especially from State coffers, being lost.

Examples of these are the failed Nando’s BEE deal that saw the franchise going under with millions of dollars from the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) down the drain. The liquidation of the !Uri! Khubis Abattoir is another case in point, where a lack of visionary business leadership and sound management contributed to huge losses. Shaanika said in some cases the failure of the projects was caused by sheer negligence.

In many cases, he said, the people involved were just after quick money and not long-term business.

"Most of these people are not concerned about doing business but just making money as fast as possible.

As a result, they rush to buy personal assets such as big houses and luxurious, expensive cars at the expense of their businesses," said Shaanika. He said there was a strong feeling that there had been illegal activities in some of the cases, which should be thoroughly investigated.”

The DTA of Namibia can therefore only support the case against Kapia if all the other similar cases are also brought to court, because what is good for the goose must also be good for the gander. Government must treat all people equally - if not they have no credibility whatsoever.