Comalie chairs Namcor meetings while on City sick leave

National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) board chairperson Jennifer Comalie attended two board meetings while on sick leave from her full-time job at the City of Windhoek.One such meeting took place on the very day her sick leave started, records show.An application for leave seen by Namibian Sun indicates that Comalie applied for sick leave from 31 March to 21 April for a total of 14 days. During her sick leave, Comalie attended two Namcor board meetings, one on 31 March and another on 4 April, Namibian Sun established. It was the 4 April meeting, held at finance minister Ipumbu Shiimi’s office, which birthed the suspension of Namcor managing director Imms Mulunga – who, according to media reports, has been on a collision course with Comalie. Mulunga’s suspension was supposed to end today, but Namibian Sun has learnt that it was extended again yesterday. Fully awareOfficials at the City of Windhoek, including some councillors, have raised questions on how Comalie was able to do work for Namcor while being booked off sick at the City, where she works as the strategic executive for finance and customer services.When contacted for comment yesterday, Comalie said her employer was fully aware of her situation.“My employer was kept fully abreast of my situation. Please contact the acting CEO of the City of Windhoek for any further comment,” she said. The Namcor board’s term is ending in August and board vacancies were recently advertised. Unauthorised board meetingsIn a span of one year up until January, the Namcor board conducted about 20 board meetings – way more than the four meetings allowed annually. Of the 15 extra board meetings, only eight were held with Shiimi’s permission. Laws governing public enterprises require that any extra board meetings, outside the four allowed annually and for which sitting fees are sought, must be held only after the minister approved them.For the unauthorised board sitting, directors received a collective N$375 000 in sitting fees. In April, Shiimi told The Namibian that even though he had not authorised the meetings, he approved the directors’ sitting fees because there was no evidence that the meetings were convened with any ill intent.The meetings were mostly to discuss Mulunga’s unauthorised payment of N$100 million to Angolan national oil company Sonangol, for an oil block in which Namcor and two partners seek to buy equity.ChargesMulunga faces three charges, none of which are related to the Angolan oil deal. He was charged for allegedly leaking confidential information to the media, as well as alleged stock loss at Namcor – believed to be in relation to fuel worth N$69 million belonging to Validus Energy, which the national oil company reportedly used without the owner’s consent.He has also been charged for a confirmatory affidavit he issued in a matter involving Namcor’s chief financial officer Jennifer Hamukwaya, who dragged the company to court over its decision not to renew her contract.The board views Mulunga’s affidavit as contradicting to its collective decision not to renew the contract.

Comalie chairs Namcor meetings while on City sick leave

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Comalie chairs Namcor meetings while on City sick leave

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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