Shafudah warning simply not enough
The official opposition has expressed shock at the lenient treatment of finance permanent secretary Ericah Shafudah, whose negligence has cost the government billions of dollars.
DTA secretary for finance Nico Smit says the final written warning issued to ministry of finance permanent secretary Ericah Shafudah is not enough and has asked for her punishment to be harsher.
This comes just days after cabinet secretary George Simataa issued Shafudah with a warning for failing to ensure that the tender process for the construction of a bulk fuel storage facility ran according to tender specifications.
Media reports have indicated that Shafudah's failure to attend technical committee meetings exposed the project to currency fluctuations, causing the costs associated to its construction to skyrocket from an initial N$1 billion to N$5 billion.
Expressing shock, Smit said: “The permanent secretaries who have been deemed to have been responsible for the 'negligence' which has seen the costs of the construction of the national fuel storage facility at Walvis Bay rise from N$3.8 billion in 2014 to N$5.5 billion in 2016 have all been issued with 'final written warnings'.
“If negligence and recklessness in the performance of your duties result in the government losing N$1.7 billion and this only leads to a temporary 12-month 'final' warning, then the question becomes, what level of negligence is required to have someone removed from their position?
“Permanent secretaries in other ministries now know that they could negligently or corruptly lose over N$1 billion of the taxpayer's money and only get a slap on the wrist. This is the precedent that has been set,” Smit said.
“It is confounding and completely unacceptable that even when presented with blatant evidence of poor governance, negligence and perhaps even fraud, that same administration sees it fit to dish out mere slaps on the wrists.”
In a letter written to Shafudah informing her of her final written warning, cabinet secretary Simataa said last week: “I have concluded that your conduct into the National Oil Facility project, in particular your failure to attend to meetings of the technical committee, of which you were an integral member, has contributed to the development of a situation detrimental and prejudicial to government.” Attorney-general Sacky Shanghala instructed Simataa to launch an investigation into the tender for the construction of the bulk fuel storage facility after construction costs skyrocketed from an initial N$920 million to over N$5 billion.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, Simataa found that there was an impression that the government would be exposed to currency fluctuations because of Shafudah's inability to attend the technical committee meetings.
“Whereas you have maintained the correct position, namely that the tender currency was Namibia dollars and all-inclusive and that government did not assume any risk for currency fluctuations, your failure to attend the technical committee meetings has enabled others to create the impression that government had in fact assumed the risk for currency fluctuations,” he wrote.
Shafudah's warning will remain valid for a period of 12 months.
Shafudah has still not responded to Namibian Sun's questions as to why she had been unavailable for the technical committee meetings.
This comes just days after cabinet secretary George Simataa issued Shafudah with a warning for failing to ensure that the tender process for the construction of a bulk fuel storage facility ran according to tender specifications.
Media reports have indicated that Shafudah's failure to attend technical committee meetings exposed the project to currency fluctuations, causing the costs associated to its construction to skyrocket from an initial N$1 billion to N$5 billion.
Expressing shock, Smit said: “The permanent secretaries who have been deemed to have been responsible for the 'negligence' which has seen the costs of the construction of the national fuel storage facility at Walvis Bay rise from N$3.8 billion in 2014 to N$5.5 billion in 2016 have all been issued with 'final written warnings'.
“If negligence and recklessness in the performance of your duties result in the government losing N$1.7 billion and this only leads to a temporary 12-month 'final' warning, then the question becomes, what level of negligence is required to have someone removed from their position?
“Permanent secretaries in other ministries now know that they could negligently or corruptly lose over N$1 billion of the taxpayer's money and only get a slap on the wrist. This is the precedent that has been set,” Smit said.
“It is confounding and completely unacceptable that even when presented with blatant evidence of poor governance, negligence and perhaps even fraud, that same administration sees it fit to dish out mere slaps on the wrists.”
In a letter written to Shafudah informing her of her final written warning, cabinet secretary Simataa said last week: “I have concluded that your conduct into the National Oil Facility project, in particular your failure to attend to meetings of the technical committee, of which you were an integral member, has contributed to the development of a situation detrimental and prejudicial to government.” Attorney-general Sacky Shanghala instructed Simataa to launch an investigation into the tender for the construction of the bulk fuel storage facility after construction costs skyrocketed from an initial N$920 million to over N$5 billion.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, Simataa found that there was an impression that the government would be exposed to currency fluctuations because of Shafudah's inability to attend the technical committee meetings.
“Whereas you have maintained the correct position, namely that the tender currency was Namibia dollars and all-inclusive and that government did not assume any risk for currency fluctuations, your failure to attend the technical committee meetings has enabled others to create the impression that government had in fact assumed the risk for currency fluctuations,” he wrote.
Shafudah's warning will remain valid for a period of 12 months.
Shafudah has still not responded to Namibian Sun's questions as to why she had been unavailable for the technical committee meetings.
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