By Laurentius Murenga
Sports Minister Agnes Tjongarero was given until close of business yesterday to retract reasons for firing the Namibia Sports Commission board and to apologize publicly to the fired board.
The ex-commissioners said through their lawyer that they were fired inappropriately and it tarnished their legacies and they were not fired for relevant reasons. Their lawyer also added that the minister’s power is limited to a certain degree which she went beyond and may face legal action if she does not do as they demand.
She fired the whole board on 24 May for “deliberate insubordination and ignoring directives from the appointing authority, as well as a directive from the office of the attorney general”.The board’s term at the NSC was due to end on 13 June. The ex-communicated board members are chairperson Joel Matheus, Erica Beukes, Alna Similo, Karen Mubonenwa, Thomas Mbeeli, Linda Chicalu, Dr. Marius Johannes, and Nicklaus Ngumono.
Additionally, the board was reportedly fired for turning a blind eye to an elaborate scheme through which large sums of funds have been syphoned off or misused during their period which was uncovered during an investigation conducted from 24 January to 14 March the previous year.
Minister Agnes Tjongarero did not respond to the demands of the fired board as of the time of this writing. The former board members are not interested in getting their jobs back but want a public apology their lawyer stated.