Africa-Press – Namibia. FORMER Fisheries Minister Bernard Esau claimed that during their trip to Angola as representatives to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on behalf of the government, Sacky Shanghala acted in his personal capacity and not as a government representative.
This statement came in response to the state questioning why the former Minister had travelled with Shanghala to sign the MOU on behalf of the government, considering that Shanghala was only the chairman of the Law Reform Commission at the time and had no authority to sign such documents on behalf of the government.
The state submitted an affidavit from then-Attorney General Albert Kawana, stating that the attorney general’s office was not approached for legal assistance, nor were any of their employees requested to negotiate on behalf of the government.
Esau alleged that Shanghala and the other co-accused, including James Hatuikulip, his son-in-law Tamson Hatuikulipi, and Ricardo Gustavo, were not part of the negotiating team. According to Esau, the trip to Angola was solely for the purpose of gathering information and not for finalizing bilateral agreements.
The state also presented a letter allegedly written by Shanghala in his capacity as the chairperson of the Law Reform Commission, which the state deemed irregular for Shanghala to represent the government as a chairperson of the Law Reform Commission.
Although the public prosecutor, Cliff Lutibezi, informed the court that Esau and Shanghala collaborated on the Namgomar scheme and signed MOUs, the former fisheries minister maintained his position that he had no involvement in the Nomgomar scheme. This is despite the existence of documents in the state’s possession bearing his and Shanghala’s signatures as government officials.
Esau’s bail application, along with that of Shanghala’s former assistant, Nigel Van Wyk, is scheduled to be heard tomorrow (Friday) at 10:00 am for the continuation of cross-examination. Both men are among those charged in Namibia’s largest corruption scandal (Fishrot) and have been detained since 2019.
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