WINDHOEK – Out of the 6 605 corruption reports registered with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) since its inception in 2006, only 347 have been finalised in the courts, while 212 cases are still pending for trial, ACC Director General, Paulus Noa has said.
Noa made this revelation during the commemoration of International Anti-Corruption Day here on Friday.
Noah said there are 24 cases pending decision of the Prosecutor General.
He said, due to the nature of investigation of corruption allegations, it takes relatively longer before investigations are completed, depending on the case.
According to Noa, while investigating corrupt practices is important, the best cure for corruption is prevention.
Therefore, he said, conducting researches on effectiveness of institutions, raising awareness and effective implementation of preventive measures can help address the risks of corruption before the crime is committed, before assets are stolen, before public funds are embezzled, and before bribery and other related corrupt practices are committed.
In this regard, he said he sincerely wishes to express his profound appreciation to IPPR for the research work the institute has been doing.
“Not only in regard to the paper on the role of the judiciary in tackling corruption launched this morning, but also in regard to other papers related to governance,” he said.
“I recall papers launched on overview of National Anti-Corruption Strategy, Implementation of the Public Procurement Act, Namibia and the African Peer Review Mechanism, Transparency in the Namibian Extractives Sector, and Public Enterprise Governance in Namibia – just to mention some,” he said, adding that all these are meant to enrich our society to understand the values of good governance.
It is with the same spirit, he said, that the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan was developed to bring all sectors of our society together, in order to enhance transparency and accountability, which are hallmarks of good governance. Good governance is key for Namibia’s prosperity.
Noa says the six pillars of the Strategy are an acknowledgement that all sectors have an indispensable role to make Namibia a role model.
Therefore, he said, in their quest to achieve the objectives embodied in the Strategy, we recognise the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture as our strong partner, because the true investment in corruption prevention is when you educate the youth on the corrosive effects of corruption.
“We urge the Ministry to take the inclusion of anticorruption themes in school curricula very seriously. Many countries renowned today for adhering to values of good governance started with youth development against corruption with a slogan “Catch Them Young”, he said.
He said, even the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in 2015 in Doha, Qatar, highlighted in its declaration the importance of education as a tool to preventing crime and corruption.
“It emphasised that education for children is fundamental in promoting a culture that supports the rule of law, crime prevention, and criminal justice,” he said. Noa says, “in recognition of this reality, we shall witness the prize giving to learners who participated in the essay competition on the topic “How can the Namibian society prepare learners to become citizens with integrity?”.
He said the essays of the six learners were selected as being the best in their respective categories.
Finally, he specially thanked IPPR for the paper launched this morning. Often, people dare not to openly talk about the undesirable delays of criminal justice in Namibia. “Let alone the lawmakers who debate and approve budgets of all public institutions, including that of the Office of the Judiciary,” recommending an area to research, which is: how effective administrative bodies, public institutions in particular, are enforcing administrative justice against public officials accused of misconducts of conflict of interest, corruption, fraud and related offences.