Government has vowed to fight any attempts to liquidate TransNamib after the national rail operator was slapped with a 15-day ultimatum to make payment of N$161 million to Challenge Air or face the prospects of liquidation.
“There is no way that TransNamib will ever be liquidated! TransNamib is a strategic Public Enterprise with an indispensable role as an enabler in the Namibian economy,” Public Enterprises minister Leon Jooste told The Brief.
He said the rail operator had the full support of the government in its fight against any attempts to make the company go bust based on an agreement entered into between Air Namibia and Challenge Air in 2019, in respect of an arbitration award.
“We will support TransNamib in fighting any aggressive attempt against the company. I brought this particular matter to the attention of TransNamib a long time ago already and they are prepared to defend themselves,” Jooste said.
The pronouncement by Jooste comes as TransNamib on Wednesday revealed that it was consulting its legal representatives on the appropriate action to defend the letter of demand issued by Lawyer, Sisa Namandje, on-behalf of Challenge Air, maintaining that it is not a party to the settlement agreement entered into between Air Namibia and Challenge Air in 2019.
Challenge Air, in its payment demand, is trying to recoup the N$161 million it was owed by Air Namibia before it was liquidated.
The Air Namibia’s debt is reported to have been accrued by the now defunct national carrier from the lease of a Boeing 767 in 1998.
Air Namibia, which went into voluntary liquidation in March of last year, owes creditors N$3.5 billion in total, with N$2.3 billion owed to trade creditors and N$693 million being unpaid taxes.
TransNamib was awarded an amount of N$175 million, and N$523.6 million over the MTEF in the recently tabled budget to give further impetus to the national logistics hub aspirations through recapitalization of the entity.
TransNamib has been facing numerous challenges over the past few years. In October, the company revealed to The Brief that it was faced with a locomotive shortage with only 25 operational out of a requirement of 75, and was betting on the refurbishment of 33 of its locomotives and a stopgap lease of seven more to improve operational efficiency and drive-up revenue.
The rail company has also embarked on a retrenchment exercise which will see 340 employees leaving at a cost of N$44 million, with a minimum expected saving of N$25 million on an annual basis.
