THE four outstanding financial reports of Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) are ready for tabling in Parliament.

The reports for the years 2005-6, 2006-7, 2007-8 and 2008-9 were mentioned by Cabinet at its latest meeting of December 8.

At that meeting, Cabinet authorised the Minister of Environment and Tourism to table the four annual reports and financial statements of Namibia Wildlife Resorts in the National Assembly.

The NWR has caught some flak for the losses it has incurred over the years, as well as for taking so long to publish its reports.

The 2008 report missed its deadline entirely.

In the midst of this critique the parastatal's Managing Director, Tobie Aupindi, argued that the fact that NWR's assets had not yet been transferred to the company was hampering it from reporting the "positive strides" it had made under his leadership.

This argument was supported by the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) and the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW).

They went as far as to claim that not transferring the assets was "a clear sign of economic sabotage", and called for investigations into the Minister of Environment and Tourism.

The Ministry quashed the claims of sabotage, saying the two organisations were misinformed, and that efforts were underway to have the assets transferred.

When Aupindi came on board as the new MD in 2006, he embarked on re-auditing all the financial results since 2003, which he says held up the more recent reports.

It has been reported, however, that according to the NWR's financial statements published in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) of the Finance Ministry, the NWR is "technically insolvent" and recorded losses of N$88 million during the 2004-05 financial year, N$101,3 million in 2005-6 and N$116,2 million by 2006-07."

It had also been reported in August that the 2008 report was late "because the auditors apparently have questions regarding the company's profitability and governance". This was not confirmed by NWR.

In the meantime, the NWR has started to embark on its next phase, dubbed the 'Growth Strategy'. It is unclear what this new strategy entails, and how many of the NWR's 850 staff will be affected.

What has been confirmed is that the NWR Board has decided to scrap the internal auditing function of the company. At least two jobs no longer exist, The Namibian was informed.

The last Cabinet meeting of the year adopted a resolution to replace the NWR board following the expiration of its three-year term. Only two of the seven members of the last board remain.

The new board is made up of Kalumbi Shangula, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism; Nashilongo Shivute, Under Secretary in the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement; Annanias Abner, Director in the Ministry of Finance; Pierre du Preez, Conservation Specialist in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism; Jacqueline Asheeke of the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations; Epson Jossop, Chief Executive Officer of Erongo Red; and Aupindi. Jossop and Abner were both on the previous board.