How Elcin toyed with the Lord’s N$3.4m

In an investigation into the depth of financial mismanagement and lack of accountability at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (Elcin), it has been revealed that the church’s one-man tender board handpicked companies to do paid work.

The probe, which covered the period 26 May 2016 until 31 January 2019, found that over N$300 000 of the church’s funds could not be accounted for due to a lack of supporting documents.

This information is contained in an investigation report, which Namibian Sun had sight of, into an alleged missing N$3.4 million paid to the church by government in 2016.

The exposé is part of findings by Team Training and Management Services, which was tasked by the church council to heed calls by Elcin clergyman, Reverend Josef Shikuma, and investigate how the funds were used.

Elcin, one of the country’s largest church groupings, drew unenviable media and public attention when allegations surfaced that millions - meant to enable the Lord’s work - had vanished without trace.

The funds paid to the church’s western diocese were owed to Elcin by government for outstanding rentals and renovations at church facilities that are occupied by public institutions such as schools.

The report has specifically raised red flags around the church’s procurement system, which is said to have played a central role in the utilisation of the money.

Kapolo’s domain

The report discovered that Elcin did not have a well-constituted bid-evaluation committee after investigators were told that “bidder selection is the domain of Reverend Esron Kapolo”.

His job, the report said, is to identify suitable bidders, evaluate bids, appoint bidders, supervise work being done and ultimately ensure that contractors are paid.

“The situation is unhealthy for a public organisation such as Elcin. It does not promote transparency. What if such [a] person with immense power appoints his friends or family members? What if the amount quoted does not match the work to be done? Such [a] situation leaves many questions unanswered,” it found.

The report also warned that having Kapolo as the church’s tender boss could lead to collusion.

The probe further found that N$33 403 was unaccounted for; however, it is feared that the church may have suffered even more financial damage - as some transactions were not properly documented.

Other irregularities within the church system included company owners being paid by the church into their personal accounts instead of such funds being paid into the accounts of the contracted companies.

Some of these firms include Okongo Investment and Mwahafa Trading, both owned by Arvo Mufeti.

Mufeti’s companies landed renovation jobs from the church valued at close to N$400 000. In some cases, the report showed, there were no quotations or invoices for work done, but payments were made.

‘Dealing with it’

“Okongo and Mwahafa are two closed corporations owned by Mr Arvo Mufeti. They provided [a] quote to do renovation work for [the] western diocese. When payment was done, the money was paid directly into the account of Mr Mufeti as an individual.

“On the computer system, it was indicated that payment was made to the corporation, but the bank statement indicates that payment was done into his [Mufeti’s] personal account,” the report noted.

Kapolo yesterday confirmed that he is friends with Mufeti, but could not divulge further details.

“I think the church is still dealing with the issue. It is still making further enquiries. I do not think it is okay for me to comment for now,” he said.

The probe also discovered that cheques that were cancelled were not available to prove that they were indeed cancelled, while several anomalies were also detected as far as the usage of cheques is concerned - records on the electronic system differed from bank statements and cheque books.

In one instance, the report showed that a cheque was recorded as ‘cash for office’, but according to the cheque folio, this money was for ‘fixing aluminium doors’.

It further noted that cheques paid to church employees do not state what the money was used for. In some cases, no claim forms or quotations were provided.

Not deliberate

Despite the anomalies identified, the investigators said they did not detect any deliberate or calculated action to commit “grand-scale stealing or engage in grand-scale corruption”.

The bishop responsible for the western diocese at that time, Veikko Munyika, yesterday said the report does not say there is missing money, but it just highlighted missing documents to account for the rest of the money.

He added that the report stated that the funds had been used exactly as it was meant to be used.

“There are, however, outstanding supporting documents. The people who did the report did not go find out the whereabouts of such documents, so the report is not conclusive. You cannot find two or three documents and you don’t follow up to the logical conclusion,” he said.

According to Munyika, if Namibian Sun wants to do a proper job, it must reach out to Team Training and Management Services and ask the investigators to provide proof of documentation. He added that perhaps this is not within the mandate of the investigation team, as he is not privy to their terms of reference. He further questioned how one can make payments without the necessary documentation.

“Elcin is a respected church. If there are allegations that money was embezzled, it affects us negatively. The question is if it’s true or not. As far as I know, the report says no money was misused, but there are outstanding documents,” he said.