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MUM: The Nored headquarters in Ondangwa.Photo: File
MUM: The Nored headquarters in Ondangwa.Photo: File

Nored tight-lipped over CEO, executives’ suspensions

Seven months of paid suspension - and counting
The board chairperson refused to reveal any details about the investigation process, citing confidentiality concerns.
Kenya Kambowe
It’s been seven months since the suspension of its CEO Fillemon Nakashole and two other executives, but Nored remains tight-lipped on the progress of investigations.

Board chairperson Johannes Uushini this week told Namibian Sun that the matter is an internal issue. He also refused to entertain questions on how long the process might take, since the three top executives are on paid suspension.

“This process is still an internal matter. I'm not mandated by the board to divulge any information with regard to such a matter,” Uushini said. “We have to respect the confidentiality of the said employees,” he added.

Nakashole was suspended in early April just days after a Facebook post went viral in which it was alleged that he took a bribe from a company that had been doing business with Nored.

It remains unclear whether the bribery claims are among the reasons why he was suspended.

Toivo Shovaleka has been the acting CEO since April.



In the red

Subsequent to Nakashole’s suspension, Nored’s chief financial officer Ndapandula Tshitayi and executive manager for technical services Petnen Frans were also suspended.

The company has been playing its cards close to the chest as far as the suspensions are concerned.

Numerous attempts to get comment from Nakashole over the past few months have also proven futile as he referred Namibian Sun to the company for comment.

Meanwhile, in May, Namibian Sun reported that Nored’s finances were in dire straits, emanating from alleged insider trading, bribery, uncontrolled spending, leaking of confidential information, abuse of company vehicles and the use of counterfeit vehicle parts, which had drained the finances of the country’s biggest regional electricity distributor.

Documents seen at the time indicated that in January, Nored’s executives had to scramble to raise N$8.9 million within three days to pay an outstanding balance on the company’s NamPower account.

This came less than two months after the board had sanctioned the executives to obtain a N$4 million bank facility on 11 November 2023 to pay salaries.



Counterfeit car parts

The extensive internal communications described how the use of counterfeit car parts were placing pressure on Nored’s finances, limiting its ability to fund important maintenance and refurbishment projects.

The company attributed the ‘extremely high' maintenance cost of its fleet to poor-quality parts used by service providers.

In one instance, it was found that Northern Electric and Mechanical Auto Repairs reportedly charged Nored N$27 358 for the supply and installation of a Toyota GD6 2.8 power-steering rack in 2020. Surprisingly, this year, it quoted Nored N$12 000 for the same job.

This is despite the average price from verified Toyota dealer agents that supply the parts to merchants being N$30 000 for the power-steering rack alone.

This reduced amount of N$12 000 was allegedly a counter-quotation to another service provider, who quoted N$43 000.



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Namibian Sun 2024-11-22

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