Ugly fallout over Afcon budget 'inflation'

Fifa normalisation committee (NC) chairperson Hilda Basson-Namundjebo says it will be unprofessional to engage nameless and faceless people who are trying to derail Namibia's hopes at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament in Egypt with their accusations.Basson-Namundjebo was responding to a letter drafted by a group calling themselves the Special Defence Unit, who are accusing her of singling out sports ministry executive director Emma Kantema-Gaomas as the person behind the inflation of the Afcon budget. The budget initially stood at N$23 million, but was later reduced to N$19 million.According to a source it has now been cut to N$13 million after the ministry sat down with the NC to discuss and get clarity on what seemed like fishy allocations.This was after questions were raised by the public about why some personnel were being paid huge sums of money.Some of the allocations that received scrutiny were N$150 000 for a “sport massage appearance fee”, an equipment manager appearance fee of N$150 000 and a video scout fee of N$180 000.Another amount which caused a stir was N$420 000 for media personnel and others. The 'others' being referred to was not clarified.This allocation and many other issues irked the public and the Special Defence Unit accused Basson-Namundjebo in their letter of trying to divert funds to personal projects and using the NC as a money-making scheme.“We wish to inform you that we have unearthed that you are behind the inflation of the budget as the first budget submitted to the ministry was N$23 million, which was revised to N$19 million making it comparatively market-related to other participating countries.“We have established that you have inflated the budget so that you can divert funds to your other personal projects such as the salvation for the near bankrupt newspaper (referring to The Patriot newspaper owned by Basson-Namundjebo). “Our investigations have also found that you and you team have lost sight of your main assignment of organising the elections and are currently viewing your stunt as the NC as a money-making scheme,” the letter reads.It also alleges that Basson-Namundjebo, as well as the vice-chairperson Franco Cosmos, will pocket N$150 000 apiece as Afcon participation fees on top of their salaries. “On top of the salaries that you are to getting you are also a beneficiary of the CAF grant fees, which the Namibia Football Association is hesitant to declare.”Basson-Namundjebo said their mandate is simply normalise football matters in the country and that she will not validate people with agendas. She further said her job is to make sure that Ricardo Mannetti and his charges are happy as they gear up to face Morocco, Ivory Coast and South Africa in the group stages at Afcon 2019.LIMBA MUPETAMI

Ugly fallout over Afcon budget 'inflation'

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-06

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Ugly fallout over Afcon budget 'inflation'

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-06

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