Staff Reporter
THE National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) has won an application for the provisional winding up of two oil supplying companies, namely Erongo Petroleum CC and Enercon Namibia (Pty) Ltd, which owed the national oil corporation in excess of N$300 million after failing to pay for fuel products the company had sold to them.
High Court judge Shafimana Ueitele said that although the two applications were not formally consolidated, their judgment was heard together in the interest of justice.
He explained that the roots of both applications are Fuel Supply Agreements and Supplementary Credit Facility Agreements which Namcor concluded—on 10 September 2020 and 20 August 2020, respectively, with Erongo; and on 16 March 2022 and 05 April 2022, respectively, with Enercon Namibia (Pty) Ltd.
In terms of those agreements, Namcor sold to Erongo Diesel 50PPM, ULP95 and lubricants at its wholesale listed price, while it sold Diesel 50PPM to Enercon.
Namcor alleged that both Erongo and Enercon breached the Fuel Supply Agreements and Supplementary Credit Facility Agreements by failing to pay the amounts owing as and when they became due.
Namcor contends that by November 2023, Erongo was indebted to it in the sum of N$266 million, and Enercon was indebted in the sum of N$114 million.
Ueitele explained that there is no dispute that although the Section 69 and Section 350(1)(a)(i) demands were served on the two companies, they have not paid any amount nor secured or compounded any amount to the reasonable satisfaction of Namcor.
“I am thus satisfied that the jurisdictional requirements set out in Section 69(1)(a) of the Close Corporations Act and Section 350(1)(a)(i) of the Companies Act have been met, and Namcor is entitled to the relief it seeks. The respondents, that is, Erongo Petroleum CC and Enercon Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, are placed under a provisional order of liquidation in the hands of the Master of the High Court of Namibia,” Judge Ueitele ordered.
He called on the two companies to show cause by 22 July 2025 why they should not be liquidated.
Erongo Petroleum CC is owned by businessman Austin Elindi, who is also a shareholder in the controversial military fuel supply entity, Enercon.
Austin Elindi is the son of Peter Elindi, who is a director of Enercon. Enercon currently faces another court case from Namcor after it allegedly fraudulently sold Namcor fuel storage facilities for N$52 million.
It was, however, later discovered that the storage facilities already belonged to the government, namely the Ministry of Defence. The Elindi brothers owned 75% of Enercon Namibia, while the military, through its business arm August 26 Holdings, owned the remaining 25%.
The former managing director of Namcor, Immanuel Mulunga, as well as retired Brigadier General James Auala, businessman Peter Elindi, and Malakia Elindi—who are directors within Enercon, the entity through which the alleged fraudulent deal was done—were taken to court over the deal, along with several ex-Namcor employees. Namcor seeks an order declaring the agreement null and void and holding the directors legally liable.
