As government seeks to add itself to list of creditors
Staff Reporter
THE government has announced its intention to bring a joinder application to cite liquidators Robert McLaren and Georgia Benade, who are co-liquidators of the entity Ferusa Capital, which was awarded a contract worth N$165 million in 2014 for a mass housing project.
However, the company allegedly breached the agreement and failed to complete the project.
Janseline Gawises, a legal practitioner representing the Namibian government and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD), stated that the plaintiffs confirmed that Ferusa Capital, owned by brothers Thobias and Nelson Akwenya, was placed under final liquidation by an order of the High Court in March 2022.
“The plaintiffs were not aware of this fact until they were served with a notice confirming this on 17 September 2024,” Gawises said.
She added that, in view of the above, there is a need to change the legal status of Ferusa Capital to a party in liquidation, and to add the liquidators as parties to the proceedings in which the government aims to recover its lost millions and damages suffered in the failed contract with Ferusa Capital.
On 1 May 2024, Ferusa Capital was awarded the contract by the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) to construct 600 houses in Swakopmund. The total value of the project amounted to N$165,666,450, including VAT. Although this was prohibited in the contract and done without prior approval, Ferusa Capital subsequently entered into sub-contracting agreements for the construction of the houses with Strauss Group, Desert Paving and Construction CC, and New Era Investments (Pty) Ltd.
It is alleged that Ferusa breached this agreement by failing to pay one of its sub-contractors for their work, resulting in the houses not being completed.