Ex-Fishcor boss pockets N$1 million after selling fishing shares while in prison


While in jail, former Fishcor chief executive Mike Nghipunya pocketed over N$1 million by selling his 15% stake in a fishing company he owned with businessman Luis Bastos and the Sam Nujoma Foundation.

Sources suggest Nghipunya’s shares in the company were quietly sold to shield founding president Sam Nujoma from possible links to the Fishrot scandal.

Nghipunya, who has been in custody since his arrest in February 2020 for his role in the corruption scandal, led the national fishing company for around six years.

It turns out he was also a shareholder with Bastos, one of Namibia’s biggest beneficiaries in the fishing industry, who benefited from Fishcor.

In 2018, The Namibian reported that Fishcor in 2016 bought a fish factory at Walvis Bay for N$160 million – up to N$50 million above earlier valuations, prompting concerns of overpayment.

Now it has emerged that Nghipunya was a business partner of Bastos.

The circumstances surrounding the transaction, particularly its approval while Nghipunya was in custody, have raised questions about the state’s decision to turn the other way.

Nghipunya’s assets were never subject to any property restraint order under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, and no forfeiture order has been issued against him by the High Court in relation to Emeritus Fishing.

Mike Nghipunya

IN THE BEGINNING

Information seen by The Namibian shows that Nghipunya is listed as a shareholder of a company called Emeritus Fishing (Pty).
Nghipunya is listed as having had a 15% stake in the company.

The rest of the shareholders include Bastos (55%), the Nujoma Foundation (20%) and Manmar Investment One Nil (10%).

In 2017, then fisheries minister Bernhard Esau announced that companies applying for fishing rights should include at least 50% Namibian shareholding.

As a result, Nghipunya and Manmar Investment One Nil, owned by Anna Kadhikwa, Lucia Mwashindandje, Petrina Mwashindandje and Erasmus Kamenye, were allegedly roped in to Emeritus Fishing as affirmative action shareholders to meet the requirement.

Nghipunya was arrested in January 2020 as part of the Fishrot corruption scandal, which implicated him alongside prominent individuals such as Esau, former attorney general Sacky Shanghala and ex-Investec Asset Management boss James Hatuikulipi.

While imprisoned, Nghipunya started enquiring about his shares and dividends in Emeritus Fishing (Pty), sources said.

However, Bastos insisted at the time that Nghipunya’s shareholding was not finalised and was thus invalid.

The former Fishcor boss subsequently threatened to sue Bastos in 2022 over the ownership dispute. Nghipunya allegedly demanded to be paid out for his stake in Emeritus Fishing.

Eventually, Bastos agreed to pay a settlement of N$1 million, which was paid within a month.

Derek Klazen

Sources said then fisheries minister Derek Klazen was aware of the transfer of Nghipunya’s shares.

The Namibian has been informed that the transfer of Nghipunya’s stake was finalised with the approval of Klazen to avoid dragging Nujoma’s name into the fishing corruption scandal.

Klazen last month told The Namibian he cannot recall the matter.

“I cannot recall because these things go through administration, then they give proposals to me. But honestly, I cannot recall exactly what happened there,” he said.

According to documents from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, Emeritus Fishing is now owned by the Bastos Family Trust with 55%, the Sam Nujoma Foundation with 20%, and Manmar Investment One Million with 10%.

Chairperson of the Sam Nujoma Foundation Nahas Angula referred The Namibian to John Nauta, saying he represents the foundation in Emeritus Fishing. Nauta referred The Namibian to Bastos.

“I am sure the chair (Bastos) will be in a better position to answer your query,” he said.

BASTOS’ LAWYER

Bastos’ lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, told The Namibian last month that Nghipunya never legally owned shares in Emeritus Fishing.

According to Metcalfe, Nghipunya was only a nominee shareholder, a person listed on paper to hold shares on behalf of someone else, and therefore not entitled to dividends or ownership rights.

“No Business and Intellectual Property Authority (Bipa) document exists showing Mr Mike Nghipunya holds or held shares in Emeritus Fishing (Pty) Ltd,” Metcalfe said.

The sale of Nghipunya’s shares and him subsequently pocketing N$1 million have prompted questions on why the state allowed the former chief executive to pocket money from his assets while facing corruption charges.

Metcalfe said that although Nghipunya was listed as a nominee between 2018 and 2022, he never received dividends during that period.

When asked who Nghipunya was representing as a nominee in the company, Metcalfe replied: “How must I smell? Ask him or your sources at the fisheries ministry.

“He never got his share for his nominee. Neither did he get dividends, ergo litigation was pending, which got settled by his putative share being donated to Narraville Elderly Home.”

The disputed shareholding later became the subject of a legal dispute, which, according to Metcalfe, was settled in August 2022.

As part of the settlement, the nominee shares were not transferred to Nghipunya, but were instead donated to the Narraville Elderly Home Section 21 Company to support the construction of a retirement facility at Walvis Bay, Metcalfe said.

When asked to share documents related to the settlement, Metcalfe said the matter was confidential.

Sources told The Namibian the transaction was facilitated by Nghipunya’s lawyer, Milton Engelbrecht, alongside Metcalfe, who acted on behalf of Bastos.

Questions sent to Engelbrecht last month were not answered.

Luis Bastos

DOUBLE DEALING

Metcalfe has dismissed claims that the share transfer had anything to do with shielding the Sam Nujoma Foundation from scandal.

“The allegation that the settlement had anything to do with our founding president, Sam Nujoma, is bereft of any factual validity. It is a fake allegation,” he said.

The Bastos-Nghipunya deal raises questions of a potential conflict of interest.
The Namibian reported in 2018 that Fishcor, under Nghipunya’s leadership, bought an old fish factory at Walvis Bay for N$160 million in 2016 from Bastos – amid concerns that the parastatal overpaid by as much as N$50 million for the building.

Bastos is said to have bought the same factory from Etale Fishing for between N$70 million and N$85 million.

He then sold the factory to Fishcor the following year for N$160 million.

Then Fishcor’s chief executive, Nghipunya, who approved the payment, defended the purchase as a strategic acquisition, citing a 2016 valuation of N$171 million and claiming the land was uniquely suited for expansion.

He denied overpayment, despite earlier valuations of around N$110 million.

The purchase formed part of a broader deal in which Esau allocated Fishcor a N$1.8-billion quota over 15 years, benefiting an Angolan partner firm.

Fishcor later demolished the old factory and started building a N$530-million plant under a joint venture with Angola-based African Selection Fishing, which owns 60%.

The deal has drawn criticism for undermining local empowerment and lacking transparency.

Bastos, at the time, declined to comment on the price he paid for the property from Etale.

The Namibian reached out to Nghipunya for a comment.

He refused to answer questions.

The Namibian has in the past reported how Nghipunya outfoxed state prosecutors when he emptied some of his bank accounts before his arrest, leaving only N$439 in one of his personal accounts.

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