Sankwasa blocks appeal over N$3.7m payout to reinstated NHE executive

Urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa says National Housing Enterprise (NHE) board directors who wish to appeal a labour court ruling reinstating former sales and lending executive Willem George Titus and awarding him N$3.7 million should finance the application privately and not with taxpayers’ money.

This comes after the NHE board allegedly began considering an appeal following a 27 May ruling delivered by acting judge James Devittie, which set aside Titus’ 2021 dismissal and ordered his reinstatement within 30 days.

In an interview with Namibian Sun on Friday, Sankwasa said the parastatal is in no financial position to pursue an appeal.

“If you look at this case, it is either that the charges were not substantively correct or the procedures were not correct. But one of the legal legs was broken," he said.

"The costs involved are a concern to me. NHE is not in a strong financial position to do any appeal in this case," the minister said.

He described a potential legal challenge as a "pure waste of taxpayers’ money," adding that as minister he "cannot allow for wasteful expenditure. As the minister, it is not something I can defend".

He said "if the board, or anyone at NHE, wants to do an appeal, they must do it from their own pockets. Not taxpayers' money”.

The minister added that an appeal does not guarantee a win, but “legal fees will always be paid”.

Five-year legal saga

Titus, who joined the NHE in August 2001 and served as its sales and lending executive, was suspended in September 2019 before being dismissed in December 2021 following disciplinary proceedings.

He was acquitted on nine charges but found guilty of insubordination and gross insolence.

Sankwasa said he has ordered that the NHE board provide a detailed breakdown of the legal fees spent on the case.

“This case has been running for five years now, and I have asked for a report on how much the government has spent on legal costs on this particular case, from the very beginning when the case started at disciplinary hearing level up until now,” Sankwasa said.

Among the allegations against Titus was that he failed to issue invoices for property sales at Ongwediva, which allegedly cost the enterprise N$10.4 million.

He was also assigned to manage and supervise the construction and sale of houses at Ongwediva but allegedly failed to do so.

Court order

The court ordered that, should NHE opt not to reinstate Titus, it must pay compensation of N$8 million.

The judgment directed that Titus be reinstated to the position he occupied before his dismissal or to a comparable role within the state-owned enterprise.

“The appellant is reinstated to the position he occupied at the date of his dismissal, alternatively to such comparable position as the respondent may reasonably determine, provided that the terms and conditions are no less favourable than those applicable at the date of dismissal," the judgment ordered.

“The reinstatement shall operate from the date of his dismissal on 6 December 2021,” the court order added.

NHE board chairperson Toska Sem is currently in China and could not be reached for comment.