Ondonga cash goes missing

A tug-of-war has erupted between the newly installed traditional leaders of the Ondonga Traditional Authority and the dismissed councillors over missing funds.

The two set of leaders are now accusing each other of squandering funds belonging to the traditional authority.

OTA's new secretary Nepando Amupanda has accused the dismissed councillors of spending part of the N$1.4 million collected for the construction of a new Ondonga palace.

The dismissed councillors immediately hit back, saying the new leadership had not accounted for the N$1.5 million they found in the traditional authority's bank account.

Oshana police chief Rauha Amwele confirmed that the traditional authority had filed charges with respect to N$400 000 that had gone missing from the traditional authority's Standard Bank account.

The authority's coffers are reportedly empty at the moment, making it difficult for it to execute its mandate.

Many Ondonga households are also refusing to pay their dues to the authority following the leadership dispute that has ended up in court.

During public meetings, the fired councillors pleaded with community members to boycott the payment of levies, arguing that the new leadership was not authentic.

The new councillors are also accused of increasing their monthly allowances, including that of the secretary which was reportedly raised from N$1 300 to over N$11 000 per month.

Ondonga King Immanuel Kauluma Elifas's spokesperson and senior traditional councillor for Oniimwandi district, Naeman Amalwa, confirmed that they were tracing how money was transferred from the OTA Standard Bank account to a law firm representing the fired councillors.





Amalwa said that he was not in a position to divulge any further information and referred Namibian Sun to Amupanda. The latter refused to comment.

Speaking on behalf of the fired councillors, Kashona kaMalulu confirmed that the money was paid to a law firm and said it was done with the consent of the community members who had helped to raise the funds.

“We used N$400 000 and not N$1.4 million as they are alleging. Since we initiated that project last year we only raised about N$600 000 and not N$1.4 million as the new leadership is insinuating.

“We approached community members who contributed the money and asked for their permission for us to use this money. Let them also explain the missing N$1.5 million they found in the OTA Trust Account,” kaMalulu said.

He added that the new leadership had no mandate to run the affairs of the traditional authority, since community members had stopped paying their dues.

KaMalulu also accused Nepando of threatening to take community members' land and cattle because of their refusal to pay the levies.

“By law traditional leaders are gazetted. We are not talking about the self-proclaimed leaders of OTA who were appointed in hotels. The secretary is also not allowed to go and demand payment from community members by law,” he said.

In July this year, Elifas ordered the expulsion of seven of the eight traditional councillors who were suspended in April. They include senior traditional councillors such as former Ondonga Traditional Authority (OTA) chairperson Peter Kauluma and former OTA spokesperson Joseph Asino.

Heavyweights such as senior headman John Walenga and former Oshikoto governor Vilho Kamanya were also expelled from the traditional authority.

The other dismissed councillors are kaMalulu, Tonata Ngulu and Fillemon Nambili. The fired councillors have since approached the High Court to challenge their dismissal.



ILENI NANDJATO