‘Former NPO boss Rijxman failed to report private vacation with State Secretary Dekker’ Inland

The partners of both Dekker and Rijxman, now D66 alderman in Amsterdam, were also present during the holiday to Israel. That holiday was not reported to the ministry or the NPO, according to reports from BNR† During the holidays, former State Secretary Dekker (VVD) was responsible for Media as a outgoing State Secretary and therefore also for funding the public broadcaster.

“In a general sense, holidays – including those of government officials – are private matters and that this is separate from business contact,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science said when asked. “There is no obligation to report in the handbook for ministers for the holiday to which you refer.”

Rijxman tells BNR that he has adhered to the code of conduct for NPO directors. “I wanted to show Sander Dekker the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem,” Rijxman told the radio station. “As I have indicated before: in a public position you get to know many people well in a short time through the work you do. Is it then the intention that we all set up a register of acquaintances and friends? I don’t think that’s good for anyone. That’s why I won’t go into private relationships. A private relationship should never influence developments within the NPO.”

On Thursday, the House will debate with responsible minister Robbert Dijkgraaf (D66) and State Secretary Gunay Uslu (D66) about an earlier revelation about Rijxman. Then it turned out that a whistleblower who wanted to open up about dubious financial constructions at the public broadcaster at the Ministry of Education. The then minister Slob (Media) linked the whistleblower to his highest official. However, the official in question also turned out to be friends with Shula Rijxman, the former top woman of the NPO. The whistleblower felt cheated. He or she would never have talked to the senior official if he/she had known about the friendship with Rijxman beforehand.

The House of Representatives previously requested a debate with State Secretary Gunay Uslu about the issue before the summer. Dijkgraaf announced last month that this issue must be investigated by auditors from the Audit Service Rijk (ADR), which is considered independent.

The investigators of the ADR must answer the question of whether the correct action has been taken in this situation, and “how this relates to the government-wide and departmental rules and procedures and codes for such reports”.

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