Staff Reporter
THE constituency councillor of Tsumeb in the Oshikoto Region, Gotty Ndjendjela, said that the residents of his constituency who are implicating him in the alleged theft of drought relief food have malicious intent.
Drought food worth N$100,000, allegedly stolen from the Tsumeb constituency office, was recovered at a farm near Oshivelo last month, leading to the arrest of three people, two of whom are officials of the Tsumeb constituency office.
Residents of Tsumeb have since been demanding the resignation or arrest of their constituency councillor. Some went as far as alleging that the councillor sold drought food to them.
However, Ndjendjela dismissed the allegations, saying that he is clean. He accused his accusers of having malicious intent.
Ndjendjela said that, as the constituency councillor, he deals neither with the storage nor the distribution of drought food. “The constituency office administrator is there for those things,” he said.
He confirmed that two of the three accused persons in the theft are constituency office employees.
“The competence and capabilities of the Namibian police are without question. I have seen them solve complex and complicated cases. That being the case, the only reason I was neither arrested nor charged is exactly because I did not commit any of the crimes being levelled against me,” he said.
Ndjendjela accused those levelling accusations against him of ingratitude and of failing to appreciate the good he has been doing since he was elected councillor in 2020.
“When I was elected, I was already earning an income. Therefore, I decided to use the additional income I earned as councillor to establish a foundation — the Ndjendjela Family Foundation — through which I would assist needy Tsumeb inhabitants,” said Ndjendjela.
He said that he procures, at his Foundation’s cost, food parcels that he distributes to 300 needy inhabitants every month. Each parcel contains a 5kg bag of maize meal, fresh fish, and cooking oil.
Ndjendjela also dismissed the allegations that the stolen drought food was recovered at his farm. “I wish I owned that farm,” he said.
