Africa-Press – Namibia. SWAPO local authority councillors at Walvis Bay are demanding answers on the investigations into the missing N$24 million from the Mass Urban Land Servicing Project at the coastal town.
Councillor Albertina Nkoshi quizzed the town’s mayor Trevino Forbes on the matter during the ordinary meeting of the council last week. She also asked questions on the subsequent suspension of the former chief executive officer and other staff members.
“The questions are coming a long time. We are in the dark. The public needs answers,” she said.
Another Swapo councillor Ephraim Shozi asked the council to explain what happened to the PwC audit report, which the council could not make public on the instruction of the audit firm.
“The N$24 million in the PwC report is not known to the public. Let’s make the report known. We are dodging questions; the council is dodging questions. These questions were submitted two weeks ago,” he said.
The Landless People’s Movement councillor Ryan Gordon concurred and pointed out that avoiding questions makes the council look weak in the eyes of the public.
“What’s happening is that we as councillors can’t deliver,” he said.
The Swapo councillors wanted to know if the mayor had informed the minister of urban and rural development on the progress made in the investigations of the Mass Urban Land Servicing Project.
They also wanted to know why no charges had been laid against the staff members who were suspended after their reinstatement without being subjected to any disciplinary hearing.
However, Forbes told the councillors that the answers to their questions would be made public at the next ordinary council meeting.
According to him, the answers could not be given because they were handed in 24hours after the meeting’s agenda was distributed to the councillors.
On Tuesday, The Namibian reported that according to the PwC report approximately N$36 million is outstanding from the sale of houses under the housing project.
The audit firm, during its investigations, could also not verify 26 properties, as their respective building completion documents and occupation certificates were not provided to the audit firm.
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