By Petronella Sibeene
WINDHOEK
About 35 Anti-Corruption Commission investigators and prosecutors from different parts of the country are in the capital for a three-day workshop aimed at equipping them with modern methods of tackling corruption-related cases.
Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Paulus Noa, said the Commission is a young institution that requires strengthening in terms of capacity building.
“They need to be familiar with the new techniques of investigating cases. We can not go on with the traditional methods alone,” Noa said.
The interactive workshop facilitated by the Commonwealth representative, Polain Martin, will address issues of reactive investigations, financial investigations, human rights in the context of anti-corruption cases, jurisdiction and extradition, as well as international cooperation.
A Kenyan veteran on investigating corruption cases, Dr John Mutonyi, yesterday gave the Kenyan experience in tackling corrupt practices in society.
Noa said like in other forms of crime, Namibia uses traditional methods in investigating corruption. Such methods, he added, have proved to be ineffective especially in gathering evidence.
Corruption unlike other forms of crime, Noa said, is committed in secrecy by perpetrators that are not prepared to cooperate with law enforcers.
Because of that, investigators and prosecutors are required to prove the cases beyond reasonable doubt. He said there is need for Namibia to invest in proactive approaches to investigation and fighting crime in the country.
Noa said issues of mutual legal assistance tend to stand in the way and lead to delays in the gathering of timely and right evidence. This is usually the case when investigators lack skills for requesting assistance from other jurisdictions where no mutual cooperation between the states involved exists.
He called on the Government to enter into agreements with other countries to make information accessible to the Commission.
Institutions represented at the workshop include the Namibian Police, Office of the Ombudsman, Namibia Central Intelligence Service and the Office of the Prosecutor-General.
Noa said these institutions are important in the investigation of cases since they have the same mandate to fight corruption.