RCC thought they could get away with it - Mutorwa

A ministerial technical committee has been tasked to urgently compile a dossier for cabinet, with recommendations on disciplinary action and the way forward for the Roads Contractor Company following the cancellation of a deal the parastatal had concluded for a N$580 million loan facility from a Chinese company.Works minister John Mutorwa yesterday said the agreement reached between RCC and Jiangsu Nantong Sanjian on 9 April was invalid and unenforceable in law. This follows a high-level meeting on Tuesday that was chaired by Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and was attended by Mutorwa as well as the public enterprises and finance ministers.In terms of the agreement, Jiangsu Nantong Sanjian would have raked in over N$2 billion in contracts for an initial loan outlay of N$580 million. Mutorwa said the RCC board had been notified yesterday morning to inform the Chinese company that the agreement was invalid and that the purported contractual relationship between them must immediately cease.The board was also directed not to implement or take any steps in accordance with the agreement. Further to that, a technical committee consisting of senior officials from the ministries of works, finance and public enterprises will now draft a submission to the cabinet committee on overall policy and priorities with regard to the future of the RCC. The submission will also include possible disciplinary actions against those involved in the “illegal” agreement and it will also look at a November cabinet decision on placing the RCC in judicial management.“For now the status quo at the company remains and we do not want to panic the employees,” Mutorwa said. Controversial dealMutorwa disclosed more details of the controversial agreement, saying the contract, titled 'Funding and Technical Support Agreement' was signed on 9 April this year. According to Mutorwa, it was entered into without prior input, mandate or approval by the line minister. “Furthermore, the said agreement was concluded and signed without the prior legal advice by the attorney-general of Namibia.”Mutorwa said he only became aware of the agreement on 20 April, eleven days after its signing.Mutorwa said he called an emergency meeting with the RCC board and management on 26 April.At this meeting the RCC bosses were asked why the agreement had been signed without approval. “It was a blunder that they thought they would get away with,” he said.Mutorwa said at some stage the RCC board chairperson even said that they had obtained approval from their legal representative and that he could provide documentation, but had to go and fetch it from his office.After waiting for more than an hour, Mutorwa said they called him, and he gave the excuse that their lawyer was in court and eventually returned without any proof. After the meeting Mutorwa wrote a formal letter to the attorney-general seeking legal advice on the agreement. Mutorwa said even before receiving the official feedback from the attorney-general they held a meeting on 8 May after which he wrote a letter to the RCC instructing them not to move forward with implementation of the agreement.“If anybody did the contrary they would have to explain.”He said on 17 May the attorney-general provided a 17-page legal opinion and on Tuesday the matter was further discussed at a high-level meeting. He said based on the feedback from the attorney-general and on the high-level discussions, the government through the works ministry enforced several decisions. Asked whether there might have been hidden agendas behind signing the agreement, Mutorwa said he could not speculate on that.“Go and ask them whether they had hidden agendas. I look at the hard facts. The facts were contained in the 17 pages feedback received from the attorney-general. You cannot expect me to say whether they had hidden agendas.”Mutorwa further dismissed reports that he was pushing for the closure of the RCC. He said that would have to be a collective decision by the cabinet. ELLANIE SMIT

RCC thought they could get away with it - Mutorwa

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-30

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RCC thought they could get away with it - Mutorwa

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-30

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