Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Guinas Investments (Pty) Ltd Board of Directors have denied allegations that Swapo Party Secretary-General, Sophia Shaningwa and Guinas Board Deputy Chairperson Josef Andreas unlawfully withdrew N$2.5 million from one of its bank accounts.
A few weeks ago, Swapo Secretary for Economic Affairs Bernadette Jagger, summoned party member Pedro Mwenyo, to provide evidence on the allegations he made that Shaningwa had acted unprocedural when she withdrew N$ 2.5 million from the bank account of one of the party’s companies.
Jagger said Mwenyo made the allegations through social media and cited Tuyenikelao Nicanor as the custodian of evidence that the Secretary-General withdrew an amount of N$2.5 million from a certain party enterprise account.
Nicanor is one of the board members of Guinas Investments.
“I am writing this letter to you by the decision of the Swapo party Secretariat meeting held on 6 November 2023, over the allegations levelled against the persona of the Secretary-General through social media platforms.
Accordingly, you are hereby summoned to appear before an inquiry into the matter and to provide evidence over allegations for appropriate sanction,” said Jagger at the time.
However, yesterday, the Guinas Board refuted the allegations, calling them false and baseless.
“The Namibian Newspaper and Social Media statements circulating implied without any substantive evidence that the Secretary-General Cde Sophia Shaningwa withdrew an amount of N$ 2,5 million from the bank accounts of Guinas Investments (Pty) Ltd, an independent commercial entity owned by the SWAPO Party.
They further alleged that the amount withdrawn was given to Cde Josef Andreas and he deposited an amount of N$ 500,000.00 in his account to be used for campaign purposes.
After the false allegations, the Board of Directors held a meeting on 13 December 2023 to discuss the issue of the alleged withdrawal of funds from Guinas Investments (Pty) Ltd. The Board hereby makes it categorically clear that the allegations are baseless and devoid of truth,” said the board.
The board also stated that the public should be informed that there was no withdrawal of funds from any Guinas Investments accounts by the Secretary-General and Josef Andreas as both are not signatories to any of the Guinas Investments accounts.
“The Board hereby warns those individuals who are spreading false and defamatory statements to desist from making such statements against the Secretary-General and Deputy Chairperson, Cde Josef Andreas of the SWAPO Party and Guinas Investments (Pty) Ltd.
Guinas Investments (Pty) Ltd is strictly governed with integrity, accountability and strict adherence to the principles of good governance by the capable Board of Directors, who exercise a high level of ethics in the execution of their fiduciary duties,” warned the board.
The board further alluded that Guinas Investments is audited by a reputable audit firm which ensures that all transactions are handled above the Board and with a strict procedure in place for the authorisation and approval of payments. Therefore, there was no such withdrawal or any questionable transactions on the Guinas Investments accounts as alleged.
