ANTI-CORRUPTION Commission (ACC) director general Paulus Noa says he has instructed two senior officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform to refund the government after it was discovered they unduly profited from their housing benefit.
Noa last month said he had given retiring executive director of agriculture, water, and land reform, Percy Misika, and his deputy, Ndeyakupi Nghituwamata, until the end of November to repay the government, since they lived in government houses while receiving housing allowances.
“I have written a letter instructing them to pay back the money, because they are receiving housing allowances,” he said.
The ACC started investigating the issue after The Namibian reported that Misika has been living in a government house rent free, while receiving a housing allowance.
‘Double dipping’ when it comes to housing benefits is strictly prohibited, and other officials have been prosecuted for this in the past.
The Namibian earlier reported that Misika was set to buy the house he lives in, while it was discovered that procedures for the sale of government houses have been circumvented, because Misika should not have been allowed to live in a government house.
It was also revealed he was living in a house assigned to the ministry, which does not resort under the category of houses to be sold.
Noa said Nghituwamata also had a case to answer and will face an investigation.
Nghituwamata was paying “something” towards the rental of a government house she has been living in, he said, and the agriculture ministry is therefore responsible for determining what should be paid back to the government.
SIX-YEAR STAND-OFF
Nghituwamata’s name appears on a list of beneficiaries who have been occupying government houses, under questionable circumstances, and now want to buy these houses, together with Misika, deputy minister of mines and energy Kornelia Shilunga, and Zambezi chief regional officer Regina Ndopu-Lubinda.
This has raised concerns and allegations that the involved officials have jumped the queue – a claim they are denying.
In Nghituwamata’s case, official correspondence in possession of The Namibian suggests she has been defying government instructions to vacate the Pionierspark government house she has been living in since 2015.
Nghituwamata has denied the stand-off and says the ministry has rescinded its initial decision to evict her.
She, however, has not provided proof of this.
Official correspondence seen by The Namibian states that Nghitwamata was first accommodated in a government house in August 2015, and was only permitted to live there for 12 months.
“The house is allocated to you solely on a temporary basis, as it is reserved for foreign consultants and advisers. The allocation can be revoked at any time if advisers or foreign consultants need to be accommodated,” read a letter to Nghitwamata, dated 27 August 2015, by then permanent secretary Peter Amutenya.
Four years later, then executive director of works and transport Willem Goeiemann joined the fray.
Goeiemann penned a letter on 5 September 2019, addressing the issue.
He instructed Nghituwamata to vacate the house within three months, which she has not done.
” . . . members under the management cadre do not qualify to stay in official accommodation while receiving housing benefits,” his letter read.
By February 2020, the Ministry of Works and Transport again ordered Nghituwamata to leave her government house.
This time the instructions came from the ministry’s current executive director, Esther Kaapanda.
“You are hereby kindly notified to vacate the house with immediate effect if you have not done so yet,” the instructions read.
Nghituwamata, however, says: “It is not correct that I have been asked a couple of times to vacate the official quarters I am occupying.”
She says Kaapanda has retracted the eviction order, indicating it was made in error.
This version was backed by Kaapanda, who says she reversed the decision to evict Nghituwamata because the deputy executive director has eventually furnished the works ministry with evidence proving Nghituwamata was rightfully living in the said house.
This development, however, comes after six years of repeated requests for Nghituwamata to vacate the Pionierspark house.
She is currently on the list of beneficiaries to buy the house, which initially did not resort under the category of houses to be sold.
Noa has, however, indicated that the ACC is still investigating the case, but would not comment on whether the said officials would be allowed to buy the government houses amid favouritism and corruption claims.
“It is a policy issue, and the ministry of works will have to decide on the sale of the houses,” Noa said last month.
Zambezi chief regional officer Regina Ndopu-Lubinda has also had a run-in with the works ministry, dating back to 2015.
Goeiemann at the time instructed her to vacate her government house, because as a management member she did not qualify to live in such a house, and her rent was also in arrears.
She was ordered to hand over the keys of the house to the Zambezi regional office housing section at the works ministry, which she failed to do. The ministry therefore requested the regional office for an eviction order, and for Ndopu-Lubinda to settle all municipal accounts and rent due to the government, which she has allegedly not done.
Six years later, she is eligible to buy the said house.
“I have not received such a [eviction] letter directed to me,” Ndopu-Lubinda said when contacted for comment.
She said she has been paying rent, and referred questions to the works ministry.
She, however, said she is shocked that the person who signed off for the house to be sold allegedly also issued her with an eviction notice.
POLICY ISSUES
The government’s policy on housing allowances states that a housing allowance would only be paid to an individual who does not receive a housing subsidy, and who is on management level at a ministry or government agency.
The individual must also not reside at official government accommodation, but instead rent a home (not government-owned), own a property, or have a bond on the said property.
Officials on foreign service or diplomatic missions are not allowed to rent their houses out while away if they want to continue receiving housing allowances.
The housing allowance is discontinued once an official decides to rent out the house.
In the event of an official being promoted to a management position while occupying a government house, such official has three months to either buy the property or vacate it.
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