Keetmans council denies accusations
Town clerk Desmond Basson says an amicable settlement has been reached with camp occupants, who are all paying their dues.
Disgruntled Keetmanshoop residents claim that the town council is “penalising the poor” while favouring councillors, their families and council workers. They want the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate possible conflicts of interests in the allocation of municipal camps.
The residents, preferring anonymity, were referring to camps that were leased for a further five years to people who allegedly have a firm foothold in the council.
The leaseholders are Clyde Kröhne (the husband of mayor Gaudentia Kröhne), Jean Kröhne (the mayor's sister-in-law), Basil Brown (former mayor), Thomas Shatipamba (father of deputy mayor Hilia Shatipamba), Arnold Losper (former mayor), Nimrod Swartz (employee at the municipality), Cyril Pieters, Mervin Fisch, Johan van der Merwe, Willie Kisting, and Marius Blaauw.
The chief executive officer of the municipality, Desmond Basson, denied the claims of nepotism and conflict of interests.
Basson said Clyde Kröhne had occupied the municipal camp where he farms with pigs before he married the mayor in December 2015.
He said Brown also had been renting his camp before he became mayor and was charged N$5 per hectare. Brown apparently had applied to occupy the camp while working as a teacher because he had intended to take pupils there on outings.
Basson said all the other people had business dealings with the municipality before the new councillors were elected, including Swartz, whose appointment at the municipality had been conditional and would hand back the camp at the end of this year.
The lease agreement
The municipality initially signed agreements with the leaseholders in July 2009.
The contracts expired on 30 June 2012 but the lessees refused to vacate the camps and the municipality decided to institute court proceedings.
However, the former minister of regional and local government and housing, Charles Namoloh, instructed the council to settle the matter out of court, which it did.
Basson said as part of the settlement the lessees were offered an additional five years at N$5 per hectare, at the end of which the camps would be advertised and leased to the highest bidder.
The disgruntled residents claim that the council has in the meantime, presumably due to drought conditions, decided to charge the lessees only N$1.50 per hectare. Should the situation improve, they will be charged N$2.50 per hectare.
Basson said as part of the settlement the municipality initially wanted to charge N$6.60 per hectare, which is the current gazetted rate. He said the lessees then offered N$1.00 per hectare but it was settled that they would be charged N$2.00 per hectare during the drought and N$3.30 per hectare (excluding value-added tax) once good rains were received.
“It does not make economic sense to charge such rates because the council is in a financial crisis. The council forces others to pay their rates, but the camp leaseholders are entitled to pay such ridiculous payments while the town can make good money from those camps,” said one resident.
During the standoff between the municipality and the leaseholders no rent was charged for the occupation of the camps. That meant lost rental income of N$496 849, which the municipality later decided not to claim back from the lessees.
“The municipality was initially advised not to accept payment from the lessees if a settlement is reached. Acceptance of payment would have amounted to acceptance of illegal occupation of the town lands. No invoices were raised against these lessees, therefore no accrued against them,” said Basson.
Basson said the lessees were required to maintain the camps and water infrastructure, for which they were charged market-related fees. He said the rent was low because the municipality had decided not to maintain the infrastructure of the camps.
The municipality refused to give in to a demand from the lessees to have 99-year rental agreements because the camps are town lands and not farmland.
It is claimed that some of the lessees have erected permanent structures on the municipal camps “as if they are the owners”.
Basson said any infrastructure put up without municipal approval “will revert back to the owner, which is a standing rule in lease agreements”.
“Renting out camps is not the core business of the council and funds collected from the non-core business also reflect that economic reality,” said Basson.
He added: “Providing water, sanitation, electricity and removal of sewage to the poor has been the core business of the municipality and it is only with the collections made from the core business that the municipality can be run as a going concern.”
Basson said all camp lessees “at this stage” were paying their dues.
“Should it be found that some lessees have stopped paying we will follow the legal process. The guilty party will be charged with the outstanding amount, as well as being removed from the camps in question. Such available camps will be offered to the next person on the waiting list,” said Basson.
CATHERINE SASMAN
The residents, preferring anonymity, were referring to camps that were leased for a further five years to people who allegedly have a firm foothold in the council.
The leaseholders are Clyde Kröhne (the husband of mayor Gaudentia Kröhne), Jean Kröhne (the mayor's sister-in-law), Basil Brown (former mayor), Thomas Shatipamba (father of deputy mayor Hilia Shatipamba), Arnold Losper (former mayor), Nimrod Swartz (employee at the municipality), Cyril Pieters, Mervin Fisch, Johan van der Merwe, Willie Kisting, and Marius Blaauw.
The chief executive officer of the municipality, Desmond Basson, denied the claims of nepotism and conflict of interests.
Basson said Clyde Kröhne had occupied the municipal camp where he farms with pigs before he married the mayor in December 2015.
He said Brown also had been renting his camp before he became mayor and was charged N$5 per hectare. Brown apparently had applied to occupy the camp while working as a teacher because he had intended to take pupils there on outings.
Basson said all the other people had business dealings with the municipality before the new councillors were elected, including Swartz, whose appointment at the municipality had been conditional and would hand back the camp at the end of this year.
The lease agreement
The municipality initially signed agreements with the leaseholders in July 2009.
The contracts expired on 30 June 2012 but the lessees refused to vacate the camps and the municipality decided to institute court proceedings.
However, the former minister of regional and local government and housing, Charles Namoloh, instructed the council to settle the matter out of court, which it did.
Basson said as part of the settlement the lessees were offered an additional five years at N$5 per hectare, at the end of which the camps would be advertised and leased to the highest bidder.
The disgruntled residents claim that the council has in the meantime, presumably due to drought conditions, decided to charge the lessees only N$1.50 per hectare. Should the situation improve, they will be charged N$2.50 per hectare.
Basson said as part of the settlement the municipality initially wanted to charge N$6.60 per hectare, which is the current gazetted rate. He said the lessees then offered N$1.00 per hectare but it was settled that they would be charged N$2.00 per hectare during the drought and N$3.30 per hectare (excluding value-added tax) once good rains were received.
“It does not make economic sense to charge such rates because the council is in a financial crisis. The council forces others to pay their rates, but the camp leaseholders are entitled to pay such ridiculous payments while the town can make good money from those camps,” said one resident.
During the standoff between the municipality and the leaseholders no rent was charged for the occupation of the camps. That meant lost rental income of N$496 849, which the municipality later decided not to claim back from the lessees.
“The municipality was initially advised not to accept payment from the lessees if a settlement is reached. Acceptance of payment would have amounted to acceptance of illegal occupation of the town lands. No invoices were raised against these lessees, therefore no accrued against them,” said Basson.
Basson said the lessees were required to maintain the camps and water infrastructure, for which they were charged market-related fees. He said the rent was low because the municipality had decided not to maintain the infrastructure of the camps.
The municipality refused to give in to a demand from the lessees to have 99-year rental agreements because the camps are town lands and not farmland.
It is claimed that some of the lessees have erected permanent structures on the municipal camps “as if they are the owners”.
Basson said any infrastructure put up without municipal approval “will revert back to the owner, which is a standing rule in lease agreements”.
“Renting out camps is not the core business of the council and funds collected from the non-core business also reflect that economic reality,” said Basson.
He added: “Providing water, sanitation, electricity and removal of sewage to the poor has been the core business of the municipality and it is only with the collections made from the core business that the municipality can be run as a going concern.”
Basson said all camp lessees “at this stage” were paying their dues.
“Should it be found that some lessees have stopped paying we will follow the legal process. The guilty party will be charged with the outstanding amount, as well as being removed from the camps in question. Such available camps will be offered to the next person on the waiting list,” said Basson.
CATHERINE SASMAN
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article