Amupanda cuts ties with property business
By Maria Kandjungu
AFFIRMATIVE Repositioning leader and aspiring Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda is cutting ties with all property and land related businesses that he is associated with to avoid conflict of interest as he contends to be city mayor.
The mayoral hopeful said he gave instructions to his lawyer to relinquish all his rights from any business and or company related to property and land to avoid any conflict of interest that may arise if he becomes mayor and takes over leadership of the capital city.
“I have instructed my lawyers to remove me from anything with regards to properties and land. I am scaling down on anything that has to do with properties. I am going into leadership and strategic direction, where I offer advice and guidance to people especially young people in business and I cannot be found to be conflicted,” Amupanda said.
Among the companies he is parting ways with is Raccoon Investments, a property business which he co-owned with other youth activists. The company is currently enlisted to buy a 3 000-metre squared open land in Wanaheda for N$1 million, a deal that Amupanda reportedly scored with the city through favours.
Amupanda applied for the land on behalf of Raccoon in January 2013 when he was still the spokesperson of Swapo youth league. According to his application, the company wanted to buy the land on private treaty in order to construct 30 affordable houses which would be made available to Windhoek residents in dire need of housing.
His application was objected in May 2013 by the city’s urban planning and property management department but documents seen by Confidente show that Amupanda, however, pushed for his application to be put before council who at the time allegedly favoured him. The deal was approved six months later and, despite, another objection brought forward in 2014 by Ritta Khiba Planning Consultants on behalf of Landtech Namibia who previously sought to buy the same land; council approved the sale in 2018 and set the price at N$1 million.
Amupanda told Confidente that he had left the company and did not have anything to do with what happened to the land thereafter.
“I can confirm to you that I have already left Raccoon. I knew these things would come up and I didn’t want to be hijacked. I also don’t want the other young people involved in the company to be victimised because of my involvement.”
He added although he has decided to part ways with those businesses, he will not allow his association with those companies to be used against them when they apply for properties or land from the city.
“I am never going to allow young people to be harassed because of their association with me. I am not going to allow young people in business to be harassed or victimised because of their association with me. I support many young people in business and I will continue to support and assist them even when I become mayor, for as long as their papers are clear and are good.”
Amupanda also acknowledged that his application in 2013 being approved within six months could potentially have been because of his position in Swapo at the time and that the reason the sale had dragged on since then could be because he fell out with the ruling party and those in council.
“I am never surprised by those things. Absolutely, those are possibilities. But I told those young people when I left that they must never give up. This thing of fear is very problematic. I know that I will always be targeted.”