N$230 000 Brazil trip haunts City mayor
Windhoek mayor Sade Gawanas says claims that she flouted internal procedures when she attended a three-day agriculture workshop in Brazil, for which the municipality spent almost N$230 000 that was not budgeted for, are untrue.
She was accompanied on the trip by the municipality’s manager for social and youth development, James Kalundu.
Gawanas was invited to attend the 8th Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) hosted by the Global Forum in Rio de Janeiro from 17 to 19 October.
Kalundu and Gawanas left Namibia on 15 October and returned on 21 October.
Initially, the organisers informed the City of Windhoek that they would cover a round-trip economy class flight and four nights’ accommodation, subject to Management Committee (MC) approval.
The MC sanctioned the trip on the condition that the organisers pay for the airfare.
Change of plans
However, on 13 October, the organisers reneged on their promise when they notified the municipality’s officials that they could no longer offer a flight ticket, hence the municipality would have to foot the bill.
Namibian Sun understands officials from the mayor’s office, who took care of the trip’s logistics, did not revert back to the MC to inform them about the new developments. Instead, they allegedly pressured municipal officials within the finance department to pay for the air tickets of the mayor and Kalundu.
Municipal sources claimed that municipal officials who arranged the trip were supposed to revert to the MC to inform them about the new developments.
"It is clear they opted not to go back to MC because they knew the trip would not receive the approval they sought. If MC is serious about prudently managing the affairs of this institution, they need to institute a probe to find the culprits. At this stage, it is either the mayor gave instructions to the officials to proceed behind the backs of MC, or the officials in the mayor’s office acted unilaterally without her knowledge," the municipal insider said.
Mixed views
Gawanas denied any wrongdoing and placed any responsibility on the officials who arranged the trip. She said she was not aware that the event organisers had changed their stance as far as paying for the tickets was concerned.
"There was no meeting held, no call, no message, not anything that can prove that this information was shared with me. I also left on the 15th at 05:00 in the morning. I received the minutes of their meetings after the Brazil trip. Even when they approved the initial trip, I was not part of that meeting and if they say I knew, they must prove it," she said when approached yesterday.
In fact, said Gawanas, her allowance was trimmed from rate one to two because the trip was supposedly fully paid, which meant she received N$41 000.
Her return ticket cost Windhoek ratepayers N$62 741.
As for Kalundu, the municipality forked out N$58 000 on his airfare and N$53 000 for his travel and subsistence allowances.
An additional N$17 465 was also paid for roaming services for both for the week.
Lack of communication
The organisers, however, kept their promise to pay for four nights at the Windsor Hotel Marapendi.
However, the MC was allegedly deliberately kept in the dark about these new developments.
Gawanas yesterday pledged ignorance about the change of arrangements.
"I was not privy to that information. Mr. Christopher Eita, the manager of external relations and networking, handled the arrangements," she said
Eita declined to comment, saying he would be exceeding his position by speaking to the media about this matter.
Business class
On her way back, municipal sources said, Gawanas requested an upgrade of her economy ticket to business class for the 14-hour stretch between Sao Paolo and Doha, Qatar. The MC rejected the request, citing budget constraints.
Gawanas confirmed she requested an upgrade because "the flight was long and horrible".
She also claimed that the City’s policy makes provision for the mayor to fly business class on any trip that lasts longer than eight hours, so she was perplexed when her request for an upgrade was declined.
She added: "The policy states that the mayor must fly business class, especially if it is longer than eight hours. Despite this policy, the MC said they could not approve my request because the City could not afford business class. The flight from Doha to Sao Paolo was about 14 hours. My legs were swollen; it was really unpleasant, and so I asked the acting CEO to upgrade me to business or at least to premium economy class."
When contacted for comment, City spokesperson Harold Akwenye promised to call back but did not respond by the time of going to print.
[email protected]
She was accompanied on the trip by the municipality’s manager for social and youth development, James Kalundu.
Gawanas was invited to attend the 8th Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) hosted by the Global Forum in Rio de Janeiro from 17 to 19 October.
Kalundu and Gawanas left Namibia on 15 October and returned on 21 October.
Initially, the organisers informed the City of Windhoek that they would cover a round-trip economy class flight and four nights’ accommodation, subject to Management Committee (MC) approval.
The MC sanctioned the trip on the condition that the organisers pay for the airfare.
Change of plans
However, on 13 October, the organisers reneged on their promise when they notified the municipality’s officials that they could no longer offer a flight ticket, hence the municipality would have to foot the bill.
Namibian Sun understands officials from the mayor’s office, who took care of the trip’s logistics, did not revert back to the MC to inform them about the new developments. Instead, they allegedly pressured municipal officials within the finance department to pay for the air tickets of the mayor and Kalundu.
Municipal sources claimed that municipal officials who arranged the trip were supposed to revert to the MC to inform them about the new developments.
"It is clear they opted not to go back to MC because they knew the trip would not receive the approval they sought. If MC is serious about prudently managing the affairs of this institution, they need to institute a probe to find the culprits. At this stage, it is either the mayor gave instructions to the officials to proceed behind the backs of MC, or the officials in the mayor’s office acted unilaterally without her knowledge," the municipal insider said.
Mixed views
Gawanas denied any wrongdoing and placed any responsibility on the officials who arranged the trip. She said she was not aware that the event organisers had changed their stance as far as paying for the tickets was concerned.
"There was no meeting held, no call, no message, not anything that can prove that this information was shared with me. I also left on the 15th at 05:00 in the morning. I received the minutes of their meetings after the Brazil trip. Even when they approved the initial trip, I was not part of that meeting and if they say I knew, they must prove it," she said when approached yesterday.
In fact, said Gawanas, her allowance was trimmed from rate one to two because the trip was supposedly fully paid, which meant she received N$41 000.
Her return ticket cost Windhoek ratepayers N$62 741.
As for Kalundu, the municipality forked out N$58 000 on his airfare and N$53 000 for his travel and subsistence allowances.
An additional N$17 465 was also paid for roaming services for both for the week.
Lack of communication
The organisers, however, kept their promise to pay for four nights at the Windsor Hotel Marapendi.
However, the MC was allegedly deliberately kept in the dark about these new developments.
Gawanas yesterday pledged ignorance about the change of arrangements.
"I was not privy to that information. Mr. Christopher Eita, the manager of external relations and networking, handled the arrangements," she said
Eita declined to comment, saying he would be exceeding his position by speaking to the media about this matter.
Business class
On her way back, municipal sources said, Gawanas requested an upgrade of her economy ticket to business class for the 14-hour stretch between Sao Paolo and Doha, Qatar. The MC rejected the request, citing budget constraints.
Gawanas confirmed she requested an upgrade because "the flight was long and horrible".
She also claimed that the City’s policy makes provision for the mayor to fly business class on any trip that lasts longer than eight hours, so she was perplexed when her request for an upgrade was declined.
She added: "The policy states that the mayor must fly business class, especially if it is longer than eight hours. Despite this policy, the MC said they could not approve my request because the City could not afford business class. The flight from Doha to Sao Paolo was about 14 hours. My legs were swollen; it was really unpleasant, and so I asked the acting CEO to upgrade me to business or at least to premium economy class."
When contacted for comment, City spokesperson Harold Akwenye promised to call back but did not respond by the time of going to print.
[email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article