ACC warns SOEs against ministers’ S&T
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director-general Paulus Noa yesterday said whether there was corruption in a travel allowance matter involving higher education minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi, the practice of public enterprises bankrolling ministers’ travels does not reflect good governance.
Speaking on The Evening Review, Noa refused to point fingers in the Kandjii-Murangi debacle until all facts have been gathered.
Last week, ACC demanded documentation on the matter from the ministry of higher education, through executive director Alfred van Kent.
Noa confirmed that Kandjii-Murangi has not been called in yet because the anti-graft body wants to have all its facts ready before summoning the minister.
Last week, ACC said it was ‘satisfied’ with evidence provided to it so far by Van Kent, but hastened to add that it will still serve summons to the respective heads of the public enterprises at the centre of the S&T storm.
The University of Namibia (Unam), the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) are all said to have availed funds to the minister to travel abroad at different intervals.
Play nice... Or else
Pressed on whether it was right for ministers to have their trips funded by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) reporting to them, Noa yesterday said: “For me, that's not a good practice at all”.
He added: “It appears as though it has been happening, but that simply is not a good practice”.
Asked about the likelihood of heads of these institutions declining ministerial requests for travel allowance without retribution, Noa admitted that CEOs of such institutions may respond favourably to ministers’ requests in order to protect their jobs.
“It seems that they [ministers] give a signal to management that either management plays to their [ministers’] tune or tomorrow they will not be here [in the job],” he said.
The ACC boss added that boards of directors are often complicit in such abuse of resources by failing to reign in rogue management cadres.
“I put blame on the boards of directors of these institutions because if such things are happening, it is because boards of directors are not doing their fiduciary duty of governing those institutions seriously.
“It's them. They instruct management on what should and should not be done. Management takes it to them and they [the board] probably approve some of these things. I don't know.”
Not necessarily corruption
In the Kandjii-Murangi case, Noa was asked whether ACC would look at what policies the three institutions followed to avail funds for the minister’s trips.
“I need to be frank with you. The absence of that provision in their policy will not necessarily make this issue a criminal act of corruption - where we say, now we take you to a criminal court because there is no provision here,” he said.
“After all, that is an issue that borders on administration. All these institutions that you're talking about, they've got governing bodies.
“If anyone has to take action, it will be these governing bodies.”
Speaking on The Evening Review, Noa refused to point fingers in the Kandjii-Murangi debacle until all facts have been gathered.
Last week, ACC demanded documentation on the matter from the ministry of higher education, through executive director Alfred van Kent.
Noa confirmed that Kandjii-Murangi has not been called in yet because the anti-graft body wants to have all its facts ready before summoning the minister.
Last week, ACC said it was ‘satisfied’ with evidence provided to it so far by Van Kent, but hastened to add that it will still serve summons to the respective heads of the public enterprises at the centre of the S&T storm.
The University of Namibia (Unam), the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) are all said to have availed funds to the minister to travel abroad at different intervals.
Play nice... Or else
Pressed on whether it was right for ministers to have their trips funded by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) reporting to them, Noa yesterday said: “For me, that's not a good practice at all”.
He added: “It appears as though it has been happening, but that simply is not a good practice”.
Asked about the likelihood of heads of these institutions declining ministerial requests for travel allowance without retribution, Noa admitted that CEOs of such institutions may respond favourably to ministers’ requests in order to protect their jobs.
“It seems that they [ministers] give a signal to management that either management plays to their [ministers’] tune or tomorrow they will not be here [in the job],” he said.
The ACC boss added that boards of directors are often complicit in such abuse of resources by failing to reign in rogue management cadres.
“I put blame on the boards of directors of these institutions because if such things are happening, it is because boards of directors are not doing their fiduciary duty of governing those institutions seriously.
“It's them. They instruct management on what should and should not be done. Management takes it to them and they [the board] probably approve some of these things. I don't know.”
Not necessarily corruption
In the Kandjii-Murangi case, Noa was asked whether ACC would look at what policies the three institutions followed to avail funds for the minister’s trips.
“I need to be frank with you. The absence of that provision in their policy will not necessarily make this issue a criminal act of corruption - where we say, now we take you to a criminal court because there is no provision here,” he said.
“After all, that is an issue that borders on administration. All these institutions that you're talking about, they've got governing bodies.
“If anyone has to take action, it will be these governing bodies.”
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