NIP's Katiti hits back

The suspended CEO of the Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP), Augustinus Katiti, has dismissed claims that he has used his office to conclude questionable deals, calling the accusations false.The serious allegations against him include overspending on subsistence and travel by over N$1 million after being already awarded a budget of N$2.5 million. Katiti is said to have undertaken trips to the US, Sweden, Austria and South Africa. Also under scrutiny is a trip to Italy undertaken by Katiti and five of his executives, which the cost the SOE N$400 000.The NIP top brass went to Italy to purchase lavish office furniture to the tune of N$11 million, according to an insider privy to the affairs of the parastatal. Katiti, who has been instructed not to speak to the media, responded through his lawyer Richard Metcalfe, saying that the board of directors of the NIP had leaked false information to the media in an attempt to tarnish his image. “The board of directors of NIP deliberately continues to leak false information and distorted facts about Mr Augustinus Katiti to the media and the public at large through social media, despite the board of directors' directive to Mr Katiti, that he may not “communicate to the media in whatsoever way or manner,” his lawyer Metcalfe said.Katiti also denied allegations that his subsistence and travelling allowance was excessive. Insider information put his travelling costs at N$3.5 million. “The total travelling costs of NIP per annum do not even exceed N$ 3.5 million. It is simple stupidity to profess that the CEO travel costs are N$3.5 million,” Metcalfe said.Also under scrutiny was a trip to Italy by the top brass of the NIP to procure office furniture, a claim Katiti denied. “Mr Katiti has never in his entire life been to Italy. It is therefore devoid of any truth to state that Katiti and five of his executives have undertaken a trip to Italy. He has also never travelled to Austria, either in his private capacity or on official NIP business,” Metcalfe said. Katiti said that travel requests were always submitted to the chairperson of the board of the NIP for approval. “All travelling requests of the CEO are submitted to the chairperson of the board of directors. Any travelling thus undertaken by the CEO would therefore have been budgeted for and approved by the chairperson of the board of directors,” Metcalfe said. It was reported that the NIP had bought office furniture from Italy to the value of N$11 million. The purchase of the office furniture had been questioned by a member of the NIP's audit committee who put the figure at N$11 million. Katiti however quashed these claims and said the furniture was bought in South Africa. The figure presented was also based on the assumption of liars, Katiti said. “NIP never bought furniture in Italy. Furniture to the value of N$5 million was bought from R Navarra Shopfitters and Joiners, a company based in Cape Town, South Africa. It is therefore grossly exaggerated to state that the cost of the Italian office furniture is N$11 million. This is contorted facts based on the assumptions of liars,” his lawyer Metcalfe responded.It was also alleged that NIP, despite having a fulltime business development executive, went ahead and spent N$1.4 million on business development while training costs were also questioned. “Consultant costs provided as N$1.4 million in the media are a mere 0.22% of total revenue or about 0.46% of total operating expenses,” Metcalfe said. “The N$3.2 million budgeted for training purposes is not even 2% of total employee costs. It represents a mere 1.1% of total operating expenses of NIP for the financial year ended 31 March 2017,” Metcalfe added.Katiti through his lawyer also denied the claim that personnel costs were approaching 80% with Metcalfe saying: “Personnel costs at NIP were never above 66% of operating costs. Total expenses to sales also remained below 60% and employee costs to sales also remained below 38%, whereas cost of sales was contained at 33%.”While a board recommendation indicated that salary increases for NIP staff be capped at 8%, Katiti and his team received 11% hikes from 2014 to 2016. “Personnel costs are now approaching 80% of operating costs and bonuses are paid without objective evaluation criteria being met,” the former board member said. The suspended CEO also said that NIP never procured vehicles for logistics company ST Freight Services.It was reported that it paid for the vehicles of the company using NIP's funds. “It is a fact that the ST Freight Services CC transport transaction was never financed with NIP funds. An extensive response was provided by Mr Katiti to the board of directors on this matter. It was also reported already that this matter was discussed by the board in five formal meetings since March 2017,” Metcalfe said. According to Katiti, there were allegations raised of mismanagement that were presented to the chairperson of the audit and risk committee as early as July 2017. If these allegations were factual, he would have been placed on suspension at that time. “Mr Katiti was not suspended a year ago. If he was in any way implicated in any of the alleged wrongdoing, such suspension should have followed after the audit containing very serious transgressions was concluded,” Metcalfe said.OGONE TLHAGE

NIP's Katiti hits back

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-14

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NIP's Katiti hits back

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-14

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