Vaalgras' fishing quota looted

DISGRUNTLED NATIVE WRITES:

We, the radical community of Vaalgras has picked up about this looting very long ago. We tried our level best to report it to the authorities, amongst others ACC, but to no avail. Our own characters of being a peace-loving and a law-abiding community have counted against our own well-being by making a wolf a shepherd.

ACC has investigated the looting at the then Southern Namibia Hake Fishing Company based at Lüderitz sometime in 2009-2010. They found that the company was registered in the name of the respective Nama traditional communities during the reigns of Dr Sam Nujoma, after they complain about hunger and poverty.

Our Swapo Party loyalist traditional authority was of such roguish nature that beneficial developmental aspects were never reported to the neglected and impoverished rural community. I remember one time that ration packs were dished out to the elderly to silent them as apparent integral part of social responsibility.

These leaders kept on denying that only the late chief and his iron-handed right-hand man were receiving dividends at the expenses of the rural poor. Since 14 February 2009, we were trying to unseat or remove the aforesaid leadership, but they were protected like diamonds by the government. This looting has continued unabatedly until their deaths very recently, simply because or their trusted long time Swapo loyalism and affiliation.

It's very disheartening to experience those type of protected unfairness. The ACC probe revealed that the duo and their traditional equates apparently paid collateral and re-registered Southern Namibia Hake Fishing Company as a private entity. Subsequently, the community shares were out and we had nothing to claim, this was confirmed by the then Deputy PS of the Fisheries Ministry on 20 June 2018 at Keetmanshoop in the Moth Hall.

The latter confirmed that the very same game was played by many churches and traditional authorities in the country just to exclude the communities. Towards the third quarter of 2020, I have started to hear of fishing rights being allocated to a consortium of all 52 recognised traditional authorities in the country by Dr Albert Kawana without any proper consultations.

I wrote a letter to Republikein newspaper on 20 December 2020, very disturbed, perturbed and condemning the allocation of fishing rights to the Vaalgras Traditional Authority, who didn't even know who their supporters were and who had no one to lead. As usually it also fell on deaf ears and they again came away with the second murder of our traditional economy.

I was shocked and dumb-founded to hear over the Damara/Nama radio that a certain Nkurenkuru-based company called Hompa Fishing Company was established to administer the fishing rights of the 52 recognised traditional authorities. It has surfaced that these funds have also being mismanaged, looted and/or been looted by certain traditional authorities of which some are in the newspapers already.

Our traditional tuthority, which is part of the 52 recognised traditional authorities didn't even report that they have secured this funding, what they plan to do with this money and the amount etc. I demand answers from Cde. President Dr Geingob and Hon. Albert Kawana in this regard.

We demand audited reports of when the payments were made and into which account how much money was deposited. We are sick and tired of this endless institutional corruption. We need that money urgently, if it was intended for the community.

The chiefs were reportedly given N$50 000to squander and the amount of N$230 000 was apparently supposed to go the Community Trust Funds of the respective traditional communities. The question begs, has this happened and if not why not and where is the money?