Defence ministry denies spending over N.dollars 8 million on car part

WINDHOEK, 20 NOV (NAMPA) - The Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs has condemned allegations that it spent N.dollars 8 million on a car part.

The claim was made by Affirmative Repositioning Movement Leader, Job Amupanda, on his various social media platforms on Tuesday. Amupanda alleged that the ministry purchased a single car part, a transaction he claimed was approved in one day and “distributed in the pockets of those that are supporting a corrupt party for them to buy favours and things like that”.

In a subsequent video, Amupanda displayed documents he purported to be proof of his allegations.

The ministry’s Executive Director, Wilhelmina Shivute, addressed the claims at an urgent press conference on Wednesday. She clarified that the ministry had hosted a bilateral Peace Support Training Exercise with Botswana in the Omaheke region. According to Shivute, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) of the NDF, also known as "Werwolf", were scheduled to be serviced for the event.

“That was the reason why a request was made to Windhoeker Machinen Fabrik to supply those spare parts. Why Windhoeker Machinen Fabrik? Windhoeker Machinen Fabrik is the manufacturer of the Werwolf vehicles and hence, their major repairs and spare parts are normally sourced from there,” Shivute explained.

She further clarified that although the invoice indicates the quantity as “One”, this does not refer to a single spare part.

“It means spare parts of one brand of vehicles. If the brands were more than one, it would have been reflected as such. We have in our possession the list of the said spare parts for which the ministry was invoiced,” Shivute added.
(NAMPA)
EB/EK/HP