Cosdef boss behind bars over N$700 000 fraud

After being found guilty of fraud to the tune of N$700 000 last Friday, Community Skills Development Foundation (Cosdef) acting CEO Martin Nandu Mubita was remanded to the Rundu police holding cells until 7 May, when he will be sentenced.

The fraud was committed during Mubita’s time at the then Kavango Regional Council. Corruption and money laundering charges against Mubita were dropped to avoid duplication.

Cosdef manages Community Skills Development Centres (Cosdecs) all over Namibia, and specifically in Luderitz, Gobabis, Otjiwarongo, Swakopmund, Tsumeb, Ondangwa, Opuwo and Rundu.

The Cosdef support unit was based in Swakopmund, and it was from there that Mubita, known only as Martin Nandu, ran the organisation “like his own business”, employees said.

He was appointed as acting CEO on 28 February 2023, having been human resource and finance manager for over five years.

Disgruntled employees had already sent a complaint about his alleged corruption and mismanagement at COSDEF to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in January. However, according to the group, this was in vain.

In an affidavit submitted to the ACC, one of the employees claimed that the organisation has been a hotbed of corruption and misuse of public resources for personal gratification for a long time.

Allegations

Cosdef was established in 1998 and registered as a trust under the higher education ministry, with former minister Nahas Angula as chairman, and Justin Ellis, Paulus Kapia, Len le Roux and Albertina Heita as board members.

It enjoys monthly funding from the ministry, the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) and the Namibian Training Authority (NTA), among others.

The statement submitted to the ACC made reference to an October 2022 transfer of N$9.5 million from NSFAF and additional monthly payments of N$2.5 million to Cosdef, while salaries in January and February 2023 could reportedly not be paid without using savings.

Furthermore, employees claimed that millions are kept in an investment account at Bank Windhoek, despite the non-profit organisation not being allowed to have such an account.

Irregular appointments as well as misuse of subsistence and travel allowance and vehicle and fuel allowance are among the allegations brought to the ACC's attention.

Mubita also apparently had new iPhones to the value of N$20 000 purchased for himself twice a year, despite the annual senior management telecommunications threshold of N$5 500.

Furthermore, it is alleged that he appointed Cosdef service provider companies arbitrarily. Here, the statement mentioned an invoice from a Oshakati-based company for accounting system training, which cost the foundation a substantial N$800 000 a year. Meanwhile, equipment and tools donated to skills centres often disappeared, the employees claimed, while no asset register exists.

Shocked

When approached for comment, Angula said he was shocked to hear of Mubita’s arrest.

"When we hired him, no one asked for police clearance and we were not aware of any pending charges against him,” he said, adding “let justice take its course”.

According to Angula, he is not aware of corruption or mismanagement at Cosdef, and insisted that the foundation's books are audited annually.

"Sometimes it [audit reports] comes late, but we are used to working with public funding. Any suspected fraud was not brought to the board's attention," he said.

On tool and equipment shortages affecting Cosdec students, Angula said the slow remittance of money from government is to blame.

"This is not the first time we have to survive this type of crisis as far as administration and management slip-ups are concerned. We will put our heads together. Don't worry, we will sort it out," he said, addressing Cosdec students.