Former police boss occupying government house while retired

WINDHOEK, 30 OCT – Former Namibian Police Force (NamPol) regional commander for Kavango East, Olavi Auanga continues to occupy a government house assigned to the Ministry of Safety and Security a year after going on retirement.

Some residents of Rundu said Auanga occupies the house at the expense of taxpayers.
Nampa understands that Auanga and his wife have now turned the house into a day-care centre, where children pay N$600 per month.

The house appears on the official list of government-owned houses in Rundu and is registered as BM93/130 located on Erf 1177.

Auanga’s continued occupation of the house has meant his successor, Commissioner Johanna Ngondo, was forced to find alternative accommodation.

Contacted for comment on Monday, Anti-Corruption Commission Director Paulus Noa acknowledged being aware of the situation.

“The house was given to him for the period while he occupied the position of commander in that region. It was up to the NamPol Inspector-General’s office to make sure that they order him to leave the house,” Noa said.

On his part, Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga said they had written to Auanga to vacate the house.

Auanga heeded that call, but his wife continues occupying it, according to Ndeitunga.
“We have written letters to Auanga so that the house can be surrendered immediately. The wife should find a way (as to) where she will stay,” Ndeitunga said.

Approached for comment, Auanga said he rightfully occupies the house, pending an offer from the Ministry of Works and Transport to sell it to him.

“I am entitled to buy the house. That house is not allocated to the (police) force. The house is a government house and I am waiting for them to give me an offer. They just want to push me out of the house, but a lot of them (senior police officials) have been benefiting from that scheme. They just want to make things difficult for me,” said Auanga.

He has been living in the house for 17 years.
The former police officer said he was simply being victimised along tribal lines or out of pure jealousy by his former bosses.

Works spokesperson Julius Ngweda refuted Auanga’s version, saying the house in question is not a pool house – which are houses allocated to civil servants through the works ministry irrespective of the ministry they work at.

Assigned houses are houses given by the works ministry to a specific ministry to be used strictly by employees of such a ministry.

“The house in this case is not for sale. It was allocated to the regional commander, and the next regional commander needs to occupy that specific house or it’s the ministry’s prerogative to decide who is to occupy it, as long as that person is under that ministry,” he reiterated.

Ngweda said should the situation persist, they will step in and evict those illegal people immediately and return that house to the Ministry of Works and Transport.
(NAMPA)