Nored, ‘Animal Farm’ and the Princess

The Lessons in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ about power, privilege and the betrayal of public trust are playing out in real time at the Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Nored).

In Orwell’s 1945 political satire, the pigs promise that all animals are equal, then take over the farmhouse and rewrite the rules until some animals become “more equal than others”.

The same script is now partly unfolding at Nored. This week, The Namibian’s investigative unit reported that acting Nored chief executive Toivo Shovaleka ordered an engineer to restore electricity to Princess Hotel at Oshikango.

The paper trail shows an engineer rightly blocked the hotel’s meter on 29 September and again on 30 September, only for the acting CEO to unblock it.

The establishment, run by Nored board director Simeon Uahengo, is linked to an account that owes the distributor N$325 000.
Shovaleka might well attempt to justify his actions. But words are not enough.

His instruction appears to be a case of executive interference to benefit Uahengo, a member of the board that appointed him.

This is a textbook example of poor corporate governance and of Shovaleka’s disregard for Nored’s debt-enforcement rules.

It also suggests double standards, given that in June 2024 the distributor announced it would disconnect customers whose accounts were 30 days or more in arrears.

Defaulting customers from the Kunene region to the Zambezi region have routinely been disconnected under those very rules.
Why, then, should the hotel be treated with kid gloves?

This points to a wider culture of entitlement in which well-connected businesspeople run up large bills without fear of disconnection simply because they know someone.

The saga also raises serious questions about the appointment and oversight of Nored board members.

What due diligence was conducted before Uahengo was appointed to the board in 2024? And how can any company credibly manage potential conflicts of interest when a director remains tied to a business owing it hundreds of thousands of dollars?

These questions matter all the more given Nored’s fragile financial history.

Three years ago, NamPower suspended electricity supply to the distributor over a massive debt of N$341 million.

Although Nored announced in July 2025 that it had settled that debt, this history makes it essential for the distributor to enforce its payment rules consistently.

Nored cannot be run on a buddy-to-buddy basis, selectively enforcing rules against ordinary customers while waiving them for the powerful.

In any country serious about good governance, Shovaleka and Uahengo would immediately step aside while this matter is independently investigated.

Such an inquiry must establish whether this episode reflects a wider pattern of favouritism at Nored and identify the officials responsible for enabling it.

Its findings must also lead to stronger controls and procedural safeguards to prevent the abuse of public institutions.

This episode is the latest in a succession of scandals at a utility responsible for supplying electricity to seven regions and parts of Kunene, where the executive suite has become a revolving door.

Former chief executive Fillemon Nakashole was suspended in April 2024 and dismissed after more than a year on suspension. An internal appeal later overturned his dismissal, replacing it with a final written warning.

His successor, Silvester Wayiti, was suspended in September 2026, just over six months into the job, without a public explanation.

Shovaleka, who now acts in his place, had himself been suspended in September 2025 pending an investigation. He was late reinstated. Frankly, instability should stop.

For far too long, Nored’s shareholders and the government have watched power struggles and executive volatility unfold without intervening decisively. History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

Unless the shareholders and the government act now, the institution risks being permanently defined by cronyism, conflicts of interest and ‘Game of Thrones’-style infighting, rather than by its fundamental duty to supply reliable power.

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