Alweendo halts C-Sixty’s N$1.5b diamond deal

OGONE TLHAGE WINDHOEKC-Sixty’s lucrative diamond valuation contract with Namibia Desert Diamonds (Namdia) will not be renewed when it ends in October this year, Namibian Sun can confirm.Officials in the ministry of mines and energy revealed that minister Tom Alweendo already gave the politically-connected diamond valuation entity notice that its contract will not be renewed.When approached for comment, Alweendo said government was not considering an extension.“The C-Sixty contract is still valid until October 2021. We’ve no intention of extending the contact,” he said. No responseIn 2016, C-Sixty landed the contract after former mines minister Obeth Kandjoze and former attorney-general Sacky Shanghala exercised their powers to commit Namdia to C-Sixty Investments, a company co-owned by businessman and former Swapo central committee member John Walenga and Tironenn Kauluma, a nephew of former Cabinet minister Helmut Angula.Walenga did not respond to queries about the company’s future, in light of the impending end to its association with state-owned Namdia. Queries to Kauluma also went unanswered.C-Sixty piggybacked on Israeli company Sarine Technologies’ valuation technology to do work for Namdia – which is to determine the prices of diamonds.Geingob investigationPresident Hage Geingob in 2017 instructed public enterprises minister Leon Jooste to investigate claims that Namdia was under-selling its diamonds, as well as circumstances around the appointment of C-Sixty Investments as Namdia’s diamond valuator.The Jooste report contained recommendations that the minister believed could save Namdia millions of dollars.Some of the key recommendations were to cancel the C-Sixty contract at Namdia, and rein in flagrant abuse of ministerial powers.It also alleged that ministers deliberately leaked information to C-Sixty so that the then little-known entity could prepare itself to scoop the multimillion-dollar contract.Jooste’s report had gathered dust on Geingob’s desk since its completion in 2018.Billion-dollar dealThe exclusive agreement was signed nearly five years ago and was renewable for another five, unless either party serves a notice of termination 12 months before the expiry of the agreement. Alweendo has now activated that option of non-renewal.C-Sixty was appointed despite Namdia already having a contracted valuator on its payroll, Neall Haddock, who worked as a consultant.C-Sixty was only three months old when it landed the lucrative deal that was set to earn it up to N$1.5 billion in five years.FavouredKandjoze has previously denied any wrongdoing with regards to C-Sixty landing the contract, while Walenga has maintained that he had stumbled across the deal in the run-up to Namdia’s establishment in 2016.According to Walenga, he had been monitoring developments in the sector and had positioned himself to submit a bid to evaluate Namdia’s diamonds.

Alweendo halts C-Sixty’s N$1.5b diamond deal

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-08

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Alweendo halts C-Sixty’s N$1.5b diamond deal

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-08

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