Africa-Press – Namibia. FORMER National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) chief executive Mike Nghipunya watered down part of his testimony in a bail hearing in the Windhoek High Court yesterday, saying ex-minister of fisheries Bernhard Esau did not give instructions to him directly about who was to benefit from fishing quotas allocated to Fishcor for “governmental objectives”.
On the witness stand for a third day, Nghipunya said instructions about payments totalling N$75,6 million which were made to a bank account of the law firm
De Klerk Horn Coetzee Incorporated (DHC) in 2017 and 2018 were communicated to him by the then chairperson of Fishcor’s board of directors, James Hatuikulipi.
In respect of a payment of N$5 million which was made to the law firm Sisa Namandje & Co in August 2017, Nghipunya said he could not confirm with 100 percent certainty, but thought the instruction came from a director in the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.
While telling the court that the payment of money to the two law firms was done on instructions from the then fisheries minister Esau, Nghipunya also said he did not receive those instructions directly from Esau.
All transfers of money made to accounts of DHC and Sisa Namandje & Co as a result of fishing quotas which had been allocated to Fishcor were done on instructions, Nghipunya said.
He told judge Shafimana Ueitele that he “personally never received instructions from the minister” on the breakdown of beneficiaries of fishing quotas allocated to Fishcor for “governmental objectives” under the Marine Resources Act.
He could not now say that quotas for “governmental objectives” were allocated by the minister, but it was accepted that instructions about who was awarded such quotas came from the minister, Nghipunya remarked.
Earlier in his testimony, though, Nghipunya said a horse mackerel quota of 18 800 tonnes was allocated to Swapo through Fishcor for an election campaign of the party in 2017, and that this quota was recorded as being for “governmental objectives” on an instruction of Esau.
Nghipunya also testified on Wednesday that N$44 million was paid to Swapo through the accounts of the two law firms after Fishcor had sold the quota allocated to the party to the company Karee Investments 180.
In his testimony yesterday, Nghipunya added that payments made to the law firms’ accounts in 2017 were for an election campaign of Swapo in 2017. Money paid to an account of DHC during 2018 – these payments came to a total amount of N$36,6 million – were also meant for Swapo, for a presidential campaign of the party, he said.
Nghipunya said as chief executive officer of Fishcor his responsibility was to outsource quotas allocated to the state-owned company for “governmental objectives”, to account for earnings from such quotas, and to report back to the fisheries ministry.
He did not decide who were to be the beneficiaries from quotas allocated through Fishcor, and he cannot be held accountable for what happened to money after it had been paid to the designated beneficiaries, Nghipunya said.
Repeatedly during his testimony, Nghipunya said the charges which he and his co-accused – including Hatuikulipi, Esau and former justice minister Sacky Shanghala – are facing are the result of a misunderstanding of how Fishcor dealt with fishing quotas allocated through the company to beneficiaries identified under the label of “governmental objectives”.
In such instances, companies which bought those quotas from Fishcor often paid the identified beneficiaries directly, instead of through Fishcor as well, and no money from such transactions was missing or unaccounted for, he said.
However, it is not the state’s allegation that money went missing with such transactions, deputy prosecutor general Cliff Lutibezi told Nghipunya during cross-examination yesterday. “The state is alleging the money was misappropriated,” Lutibezi said.
The charges which Nghipunya and his co-accused are facing include a count of fraud in which it is alleged that they misappropriated an amount of N$81,8 million meant for “governmental objectives”, with the help of one of the partners in DHC, fugitive lawyer Marèn de Klerk. The bail hearing is continuing.
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