Paulus Noa, director general of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), has asked Iipumbu Shiimi, finance minister, for the government report that implicated Obeth Kandjoze, former minister of mines.
NamibiaLast month, it was reported that Kandjoze misled ACC about how he appointed a company for Namdia diamonds evaluation. This deal enriched three politically connected individuals by giving them N$130 million.
Noa said Monday to The Namibian that he had contacted Shiimi, who is now in charge for public enterprises.
“I have written a letter to the minister of finance in his capacity as minister in charge of the Ministry of Public Enterprises, to furnish me with a copy of the report. He has not replied to my letter yet,” Noa said.
Noa further said that he did so because “I cannot immediately summon the officials before I contact the minister, since the report is confidential”.
President Hage Geingob received the confidential investigation report, which Leon Jooste, former minister of public enterprise, had prepared, in February 2018.
Kandjoze, the director general of the National Planning Commission, has denied any wrongdoings and threatened to sue The Namibian.
Kandjoze was controversially appointed as the minister of mines for three years. He was demoted in 2018 and faced allegations regarding Namdia. Now, he is leading the campaign for prime minister Saara-Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s Swapo’s vice presidency contest.
Rally for Democracy and Progress president Mike Kavekotora has for many years asked parliament for explanations about alleged irregularities in Namdia.
In May this year, Kavekotora asked mines minister Tom Alweendo in parliament to “provide proof to this house and the public that the option your ministry or Namdia took to acquire the services of C Sixty was the best possible option available”.
“I posed several questions in parliament early this year about Namdia, its establishment and the appointment of C-Sixty and what benefits that would accrue for Namibia, but it was clear that they were all and are still projects meant for a few,” Kavekotora said during an interview with The Namibian last month.
Kavekotora said Namdia and projects like its diamond valuation deal with C Sixty Investments CC exist to benefit the elite and politically connected individuals in the country “because corruption is institutionalised in Namibia”.
“When corruption becomes part of the institution, then all the laws are broken. I say this because whether a report on a particular investigation is conducted, sadly, the public is never informed about the outcome,” Kavekotora said.
“Ministers are lying, they are repudiating the laws of this country and no one is holding them accountable.”
Kavekotora said “lying under oath and the current corrupt culture of the ruling party officials is not a new phenomenon.
He said his experience as the chairperson of the parliamentary committee on public accounts “has seen government officials lying under oath in an effort to protect their interests”.
Kavekotora claimed that corruption investigations conducted by the government are now collecting dust in offices.
He stated that rotating an accused of corruption to a different portfolio does not reduce corruption.
“You commission an investigation, spend money on it, recommendations are not adhered to, then it poses a serious question to the president: Why waste public funds on such an exercise when you know you will not take action?” said Kavekotora.
Source: namibian
