EDITORIAL: The August 26-Enercon debacle
How did a company owned by the Namibian defence establishment end up entangled in a fuel scandal that now threatens the country’s energy security?
August 26, the commercial arm of the defence ministry, claimed it was making a “strategic investment” when it bought a 25% stake in Enercon Namibia. The logic, on paper, sounded solid: secure fuel for the military, and maybe earn a bit of revenue on the side. But what unfolded instead looks less like strategy- and more like a case study in state-backed negligence.
Rather than sourcing directly from Namcor, Namibia’s national oil supplier, August 26 hitched its wagon to a private reseller that procured fuel on unsecured credit, racking up unpaid debts that now run into hundreds of millions. Why would an entity charged with safeguarding national defence choose to insert a middleman - one in which it held only a minority stake - between itself and a strategic fuel source?
August 26 insists it wasn’t involved in Enercon’s daily operations. But that’s no excuse. Ownership comes with responsibility- especially when public money and national security are on the line.
Now, with the High Court eyeing liquidation and Enercon in financial free fall, the hard questions begin: What becomes of August 26’s investment? Do taxpayers simply swallow the loss for that 25% stake?
This is bigger than one bad deal. Namcor’s ballooning credit losses don’t just dent its balance sheet - they endanger its ability to import fuel, supply retailers, and manage the national storage facility that keeps Namibia running. That’s national infrastructure now at risk, thanks to business done in the shadows.
And yet, the defence ministry - the parent of August 26 - remains resolutely silent. That silence now reads less like prudence and more like complicity.
August 26, the commercial arm of the defence ministry, claimed it was making a “strategic investment” when it bought a 25% stake in Enercon Namibia. The logic, on paper, sounded solid: secure fuel for the military, and maybe earn a bit of revenue on the side. But what unfolded instead looks less like strategy- and more like a case study in state-backed negligence.
Rather than sourcing directly from Namcor, Namibia’s national oil supplier, August 26 hitched its wagon to a private reseller that procured fuel on unsecured credit, racking up unpaid debts that now run into hundreds of millions. Why would an entity charged with safeguarding national defence choose to insert a middleman - one in which it held only a minority stake - between itself and a strategic fuel source?
August 26 insists it wasn’t involved in Enercon’s daily operations. But that’s no excuse. Ownership comes with responsibility- especially when public money and national security are on the line.
Now, with the High Court eyeing liquidation and Enercon in financial free fall, the hard questions begin: What becomes of August 26’s investment? Do taxpayers simply swallow the loss for that 25% stake?
This is bigger than one bad deal. Namcor’s ballooning credit losses don’t just dent its balance sheet - they endanger its ability to import fuel, supply retailers, and manage the national storage facility that keeps Namibia running. That’s national infrastructure now at risk, thanks to business done in the shadows.
And yet, the defence ministry - the parent of August 26 - remains resolutely silent. That silence now reads less like prudence and more like complicity.
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Namibian Sun
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