With the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris just over a month away, the Namibia National Paralympic Committee (NNPC) is rocked by claims of various irregularities.
This includes the abuse of power, unconstitutional procedures and the gross mismanagement of funds.
Additionally, the beleagured body's debts - now at just over N$600 000 - are piling up, while a court case in connection with a break-in and the theft of a computer is pending.
JP Schmidt, who was appointed as the treasurer of the NNPC in 2021, has now turned whistle-blower, claiming that NPC president Johannes Litwayi and secretary general Michael Hamukwaya are mismanaging funds and trying to oust him.
"My opinion is that we have a rogue president and a rogue secretary general who are abusing their powers and are grossly mismanaging the NNPC's funds," he says.
Schmidt says the NNPC currently has about N$60 000 in its account, with unpaid debts amounting to more than N$600 000.
This includes about N$200 000, which is owed to athletes and coaches who participated in the 2023 World Boccia Heraklion Challenger and the 2023 Para Powerlifting World Cup in Greece and Egypt, respectively, last year.
Selma Ndaitwah, a boccia and powerlifting coach from the Oshana region, sent an email to the NNPC on 5 July, asking about the outstanding payments.
"I am concerned about the delay in disbursing their allowances, which have been pending for over eight months," she wrote.
Schmidt says the government has paid out the funds, "but unfortunately it has been used for other activities. . .".
Ndaitwah also queried the ommission of boccia and powerlifting teams from the Namibian team from the South African Sport Association for the Physically Disabled (SASAPD) Championships in Bloemfontein this year.
"This has deprived the athletes of a valuable platform to showcase their skills and competencies . . . " she said.
PENALTY
Namibia, however, did not compete at this year's SASAPD Championships, incurring a N$125 000 non-appearance fine, while the NNPC is now also in danger of being banned from the games in future, Schmidt says.
"Litwayi and Hamukwaya cancelled Namibia's participation this year without the board knowing about it. On enquiry they said it's because there were no national trials, but we've never had national trials before . . ," he says.
The non-inclusion of other sport codes is another bone of contention for Schmidt.
Another debt involves about N$200 000 from the International Paralympic Committee's development fund, meant for a development project, he says.
If this is not implemented by the end of August, the NNPC could run the risk of not receiving funds from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) again.
COSTLY BOARD MEETINGS
Schmidt says a lot of the expenditures involve uneccessary board meetings, sitting fees and transport and accommodation costs, which this year alone have amounted to about N$300 000.
He says the minister of sport, youth and national service, Agnes Tjongarero, instructed Litwayi not to use IPC development funds for a meeting in December, but he went ahead and did so.
About N$110 000 is owed to travel agency Rennies, which covered the expenses of para-triathlete Jerome Rooi.
Rooi attended a Paris Paralympics qualifying event in France in May.
An IPC grant of about N$150 000 was received for this purpose, while equipment and attire totalling about N$40 000 was spent on Rooi.
The rest has been used, while Rennies is still to be paid.
Schmidt says since his appointment as treasurer in 2021 he has been blocked from getting access and signing rights to the NNPC's bank account.
He only received this in May after pressure from the executive director of sport, Erastus Haitengela, he says.
MYSTERIOUS BREAK-IN
Schmidt says the NNPC has not submitted audited financial statements for the past eight years, while his efforts to sort out their financial mess have been hampered by a mysterious break-in to the NNPC's office in May.
A computer with the committee's financial records on it was stolen.
"It looked like a complete set-up," he says.
Schmidt levels various other accusations against Litwayi and Hamukwaya, including their 'shambolic preparation for the 2024 Kobe World Para Championships in May', their disregard of an interim committee set up to prepare for the Paris Paralympic Games, the removal of Ananias Shikongo and Lahja Ishitile from the NNPC board and a general lack of transparancy and accountability.
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DENIAL
Litwayi refutes Schmidt's allegations, saying he [Schmidt] had authorised payments himself and that he was not being transparent about his family benefiting from the supply of uniforms for Namibia's Paralympic teams.
"Could he provide us with the three quotations he awarded his children to supply uniforms to our teams?" he asks.
Schmidt, however, claims his daughter was only approached twice to supply attire with the consent of the NNPC board.
He says the Namibia Sport Commission's silence on the issue is worrying.
"They haven't handed in financial reports for the past eight years . . . The government needs that information, otherwise we cannot get funding in future," he says.
