Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) closed 73 out of 120 corruption cases reported to it between 31 March 2020 and 31 March 2021 due to unfounded claims.
They are abuse of power, tender and recruitment irregularities, bribery and abuse of public resources. Other cases involve irregularities in land sales, land tax refunds, corrupt and fraudulent validation of import and export customs declarations in automated systems for customs data and value added tax.
This information is contained in the ACC annual report of the 2020/21 financial year released to the media at Oshakati two weeks ago.
ACC further said 64 out of the 73 closed cases were declined due to insufficient evidence to pursue investigations. Of these, seven were declined due to unfounded allegations after investigations while only two were referred to the prosecutor general’s office.
According to the ACC, during this period, 50 cases from previous years were earmarked for investigation, while 14 were closed due to lack of evidence.
He said 33 case dockets were under the ACC’s investigation.
Of 120 corruption-related cases, 60 cases were reported in Khomas, 22 in Erongo, 20 in Oshana and 18 in Otjozondjupa regions.
According to the ACC, notable cases referred to the prosecutor general include that of former justice minister Sakeus Shanghala’s case of obstructing the course of justice by conspiring with another person to remove documents which had a bearing on the criminal cases the agency was investigating.
Another case is that of a former executive director in the Ministry of Works and Transport, who is accused of corruptly approving the demolishing of the Okahandja Hotel government building at Okahandja. The work was valued at N$2,4 million.
The ACC also referred to the prosecutor general the case of an alleged inflated quotation of N$7,7 million to purchase furniture for the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority from Walvis Bay for a lesser amount.
The case of Eenhana Town Council officials accused of corruptly awarding a tender to maintain a road in the town to a local entity for N$867 464 and a validation order signed in extra payment of N$245 300 were also referred to the prosecutor general.
In addition, the ACC is investigating the allegations that the Ministry of Justice paid N$10 million to a local entity that billed the the Attorney General’s Office for designing and implementing a website that is not in use.
Another case is that of officials of the ministry of home affairs who are accused of issuing Namibian identity documents without following proper procedures.
ACC acting head of investigations Justine Kanyangela told The Namibian yesterday that 27 out 50 cases earmarked for investigation in 2020/21 have been finalised, resulting in 18 cases being closed unsubstantiated after investigation.
“Eleven cases were submitted to the prosecutor general’s office for a decision in terms of section 31 of the Anti-Corruption Act, nine (cases) of which the prosecutor general decided to prosecute. The said cases are already in court and two cases are still pending the prosecutor general’s decision to prosecute,” she said.
She added that the Covid-19 pandemic has also affected progress in the finalisation of cases because many officials of the institutions were operating or working from home and some are still working from home, which has made it difficult for the ACC to serve summonses to get the information required for investigation on time and some ACC investigators were also affected by Covid-19.
“Most planned activities could not be executed due to investigators’ efforts to comply with Covid-19 regulations, and some institutions were closed due to confirmed Covid-19 cases,” she added.
She further stated that some corruption cases remain a daunting task while others are of a complex nature and might take long to finalise investigations.
Two weeks ago, ACC director general Paulus Noa told the media at Oshakati the agency needs help from the media in fighting the scourge of corruption.
Noa said investigating agencies might not successfully unravel all corrupt conduct without collaborating with the media.
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