Namdia board fees reined in

Namibia Desert Diamonds (Namdia) has been instructed to halt the payment of exorbitant board fees, following reports that board members were paid N$8 million from 2016 to 2018.

Public enterprises minister Leon Jooste said this trend would not be allowed to continue.

Mines minister Tom Alweendo said the fees would come up for review in parliament. Alweendo told Namibian Sun that the new board fees would not be as excessive.

“The next report will tell a different story. Let us look at next year's annual report and I will be fully responsible for that one,” Alweendo said.

Namdia board chairperson Shakespeare Masiza earned N$1.4 million in board fees, while four other board members - government attorney Chris Nghaamwa, geologist Venondjo Maharero, Namcor information technology executive Bonny Konjore and economist Lorentha Harases - earned N$1.2 million each over the last two years.





Other Namdia board members who were paid handsomely are Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) board chairperson Tania Hangula, who earned N$1.1 million, and human resources specialist Florentia Amuenje, who earned N$745 000.

“The Namdia board fees referred to are from the previous two annual reports. During the last Namdia annual general meeting in August [2018], they were instructed to align their board fees to our gazetted guidelines and I can assure you that the board is now remunerated accordingly,” said Jooste.

He also warned that board members would be held personally liable if fees paid out did not adhere to stipulated limitations.

“Going forward, the public enterprises ministry will not tolerate non-compliance with the guidelines and board members will be held personally liable for financial implications,” said Jooste.

Masiza was contacted to establish whether the guidelines had been enforced, but did not respond.

Board fees are paid according to which tier a state-owned enterprise (SOE) falls under. There are three tiers and Jooste explained that Namdia was provisionally listed or defined as a tier-three SOE.

For tier-three SOEs, a non-executive board chairperson should earn no more than N$104 125 as a retainer, and no more than N$57 490 in sitting fees. The assumption is also that no more than four board meetings per year are held by SOEs.





Non-executive members serving on tier-three SOE boards should earn no more than N$85 000, assuming only four board meeting are held. In terms of retainer fees, non-executive board members should be paid no more than N$32 511.



Comparisons

For its financial year 2017, Telecom Namibia paid its board members a collective N$562 060 in board fees - in stark contrast to what Namdia paid its board.

Its highest-earning member, Johny Smith, earned N$179 000, while the lowest board fees were paid to Fernando Somaeb, who pocketed N$32 886.

The DBN, for the financial year ended 2017, paid board members just over N$1.2 million in total. Albie Basson earned N$274 775 and was the highest-paid board member.

NamPower did not provide any details of its board fees in its 2017 annual report.



Extravagant

Namdia's annual report for 2016 showed that its board of directors smiled all the way to the bank, with nearly N$4 million paid in sitting fees.

The Namibian reported that Masiza was paid N$595 000 and Maharero N$577 000, while the rest were collectively paid N$560 000.

OGONE TLHAGE