Africa-Press – Namibia. FORMER minister of labour Marlene Mungunda has been accused of using the name of the Sam Nujoma Foundation and her political status to book accommodation at a Windhoek guesthouse without settling the bill.
Mungunda allegedly approached the owner of Essence of Afrika Guesthouse in Hochlandpark, Martha Nambabi, on 1 June, to book accommodation for her guest for more than 30 days.
The former minister informed Nambabi that the Sam Nujoma Foundation would pay for the guest’s food, drinks and accommodation since he came to Windhoek to assist with penning a biography on the late chief Hendrik Witbooi.
Nambabi said she accommodated the guest from 2 June to 9 July but has not received any payment from Mungunda or the Sam Nujoma Foundation, as promised. Mungunda said the matter is with her lawyers while the foundation denied knowledge of the arrangement.
Nambabi added that during the guest’s stay at her establishment, they served him breakfast, lunch and dinner for a month, including alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks, totalling N$22 584, including accommodation.
She says Mungunda gave her the impression that she was still a member of parliament when she initially made the booking.
“After introducing herself as a member of parliament, former minister Mungunda informed me that she and her guest [name withheld] are working on a project, on the request of the founding father, to write the biography of the late Hendrik Witbooi,” she said.
She said when she realised the payment was not made after the guest left, she wrote a letter to the chairperson of the Sam Nujoma Foundation, Nahas Angula, on 12 July, requesting her money.
Nambabi shared text messages and screenshots of the conversations between herself and Mungunda with The Namibian.
In the text messages, Mungunda promised to make the payment in a week’s time.
On 6 July, Nambabi told Mungunda she would inform the Sam Nujoma Foundation what she had done and open up a case of theft against her.
In a text message seen by The Namibian, 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.”
Mungunda further informed Nambabi that they will meet in court.
According to Nambabi, that was the last conversation she had with Mungunda as she has been rejecting her phone calls since.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mungunda said Nambabi is being “nasty”.
“Everything is with my lawyers because this is a programme that we do with the founding father and the founding father has been booked off because there has not been any approval yet,” she said.
When questioned further by The Namibian, Mungunda said: “I will not entertain you, my lawyer will [give] my side of the story.” Angula, who confirmed receiving Nambabi’s letter of complaint, said the foundation was not informed about making any payment.
He said it is unfortunate that Mungunda used other people’s services hoping 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 added.
In the letter replying to Nambabi’s complaint, Angula said: “Even though I am most concerned at the inconvenience and the loss that 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 [name of guest], or the instruction of Hon. Mungunda.”
Angula added: “To this end, I regret to inform you that the board cannot, under any circumstance, pay for the outstanding invoice as you have committed ourselves 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 cost.”
He advised the owners of Essence of Africa Guesthouse to look for alternative avenues to recover the cost incurred.
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