Hertta-Maria Amutenja
A Chinese construction company is seeking interim relief in the High Court of Namibia while alleging that N$33 031 543.04 was transferred from its bank account to the Bank of Namibia.
The money is allegedly the total and combined tax payable in respect of income tax that was owed to the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRa) by the Zhong Mei Engineering Group.
The company claims it was only informed in an audit exit meeting, which they claim they were not aware of, on 7 July 2023 that it owed that amount and it was due or payable prior on the same day in notices of assessments.
The construction company in its urgent application filed at the Windhoek High Court on 21 July 2023 says it will suffer irreparable harm if it does not obtain interim relief.
According to the company’s affidavit, NamRa through its Intelligence Strategic Enforcement Unit unlawfully appointed Standard Bank Namibia as an agent to transfer the millions in a manner that kills and destroys the construction company’s business.
Managing Director, Jiang Yuan in the affidavit said that despite the company proposing to pay an amount of not more than N$2 million and make the arrangements to pay the rest whilst it submits its objection to the purported assessment, the amount was still deducted from its bank account between 10 and 12 July 2023.
“This came as a big surprise, given the fact that the applicant (the construction company) at the meeting on 7 July (which meeting was attended by the applicants representative unprepared and without full knowledge of the nature of the meeting) requested that the first respondent (NamRa) first considers allowing the applicant to pay an amount of not more than N$ 2 million and make the arrangements to pay the rest whilst it submits its objection to the purported assessment. This request was rejected outright, but the first respondent’s employees undertook and promised to consider it internally and revert to the applicant with a response,” read the document.
The Zhong Mei Engineering Group is in the process of securing an accountant to lodge objections to the assessment.
Furthermore, the company claims the NamRa was arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable and unlawful to consider the construction company’s inability to pay an amount of over N$33 million in one go due to its expenses.
“The applicant is in the construction industry. it was left with less than N$4 million plus interest in its bank account. the applicant recently lost a case in the Supreme Court in terms whereof it is required to pay an amount of about N$4 million. The applicant will have to make payment of that amount plus the cost in the next few days. But then there would not be money. the applicant has a monthly expense of about N$28 million. The applicant’s inability to pay will not only cause the collapse of the applicant’s operations. It will actually drive the applicant in contractual breeches with several third parties,” it read further.
Zhong Mei Engineering Group was a beneficiary of a contract to construct the second phase of the Windhoek-to-Hosea Kutako International Airport highway for N$1,2 billion in 2019.
In 2016, the Roads Authority awarded a N$755 million contract to Zhong Mei Engineering Group for the construction of the Swakopmund-Henties Bay-Uis road.
The application is being heard in front of Judge Eileen Rakow.
