Shafudah fights back

FINANCE permanent secretary Ericah Shafudah has denied that she is to blame for causing the costs of the national fuel depot's construction to rise from N$3,8 billion to N$5,5 billion within a year.

Cabinet secretary George Simataa last week gave Shafudah a final written warning, accusing her of not attending meetings as the chairperson of the now-defunct tender board. The tender board gave CRB – a joint venture of China Harbour Engineering Company, the Roads Contractor Company and Babyface Civils – the contract to built the national fuel depot at Walvis Bay in 2014. As the chairperson of the tender board, Shafudah was supposed to safeguard goverment's financial interests, especially in the case of CRB, whose bid was quoted in US dollars but awarded in Namibia dollars. The following year, the Namibia dollar started falling against the US dollar, and it meant that materials and services sourced from abroad became more expensive. In a statement yesterday, Shafudah questioned the process Simataa used in the investigation which led to her getting a final warning.