Lüderitz up in arms

Acting Lüderitz CEO Ignatius Tjipura says no agreement has been reached yet in terms of power supply and distribution to the town.

In a petition, residents and ratepayers say the proposed deal to outsource the council's power distribution to Walvis Bay-based private company Conselect Engineering and Cenored is “illegal”.

They allege this is being orchestrated by “certain individual” councillors.

The councillors fingered in the deal are deputy mayor Brigitte Fredericks, chairperson of the management committee Calvin Mwiya, and management committee member Willem Gumede.

Fredericks and Gumede refused to comment. Gumede merely said “no comment”, while Fredericks said she is “not denying” the deal, but added: “Go back to those who are giving you the information, they must give you the right information.”

Mwiya could not be reached for comment. Executive chairperson and director of Conselect Engineering, Wiseman Molatzi, also refused to comment, referring all questions back to the town council.

Sources at the town said a heated council meeting over the proposed deal took place yesterday, which nearly ended up in a fistfight amongst the councillors.

According to the residents' petition, a draft agreement will reportedly be presented to the town council for final approval “without further ado”.

“This is totally unacceptable. There are serious issues involved,” the petition reads.

The petition claims council procedures have not been applied and that there was no public consultation with residents.

It also questions the alleged speed with which the Office of the Attorney-General had “scrutinised” the so-called draft agreement, without checking its authenticity or procedures.

The petitioners call for an immediate halt to the talks and for the deferment of any decision to part with any electricity assets or accounts to any other party, including any one of the regional electricity distributors (REDs).



Agreement denied

Tjipura denied there is any draft agreement in existence, saying there are so far only negotiations about a possible deal.

He also denied that “certain individual” councillors are involved in hatching the deal, as is alleged.

“[This] matter was brought to council and discussion with regard to this has started in 2017. The matter was tabled at council management meetings, and up to now, no final agreement was signed with regard to the outsourcing of electricity… what has happened so far is only negotiations,” Tjipura insisted.

Asked why the town council would want to outsource its electricity supply, Tjipura responded: “Outsourcing by its nature is to try to improve service delivery, upgrading of infrastructure and better management of that particular unit or department, but not to the detriment of any institutions; therefore due diligence of business viability must be done before council can go into that marriage. On that, council has not taken any final decision.”



The contract

According to sections of a draft agreement seen by Namibian Sun, the electricity supply deal will be between the town council, Conselect Engineering and Cenored, who will form a joint-venture company, Atlantic Electrical (Pty) Ltd.

One of the stated aims of Atlantic Electricity (Pty) Ltd is to create “additional income streams” for the Lüderitz and Oranjemund town councils by “means of dividends, local authority electricity surcharges, asset lease fees and effective debt collection”.

Sources said the contract includes Lüderitz ceding council properties and income of between N$80 million and N$100 million per year to Atlantic Electric, against dividend payments by the company to the council.

“This will be the downfall of the council,” a Lüderitz resident, preferring anonymity, said.

The contract states that Cenored undertakes, on behalf of the Atlantic Electric, to maintain and operate the electricity distribution network within the Lüderitz and Oranjemund boundaries, and ensure the “continued upgrading and expansion of the electricity distribution network”.

The contract further states that Conselect can, on behalf of Atlantic Electric, undertake consulting engineering and project management services.

The parties will shareholding in the JV company, and the agreement is to be an interim arrangement “pending the finalisation of the proposed Southern RED Regime”, the agreement states.

The draft contract further states that the Lüderitz and Oranjemund councils are to apply to the appropriate Namibian authorities for any and all approvals, benefits or exemptions necessary to carry out the activities contemplated in the agreement.

CATHERINE SASMAN