OSHAKATI – A police officer in Oshakati was charged with corruption in the Oshakati Magistrates Court last Thursday.
The suspect, Frans Ndangi Ananias, appeared before Magistrate Mikka Namweya for corruptly using his position for gratification. Ananias informed the court that he is the sole breadwinner in his family and also indicated that he is currently employed as a part-time driver at his brothers’ company and takes care of his unemployed wife and three children, including the wife’s tuition fees and his children’s transportation to school before he was sentenced.
He further pleaded with the court for leniency considering the aforementioned circumstances. Prosecutor Birna Adriaanse informed the court to consider a few factors before it delivers a judgment, including his personal circumstances, as well as the seriousness of the crime. Adriaanse who made reference to an article published by New Era on March 22 in which the president called upon the nation to fight corruption and said corrupt practices lead to a decline in the development of the economy and lead to insufficient public facilities, hence the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Commission to fight corruption in the country. Adriaanse further enlightened the court about a similar case in which a first time police offender was convicted. Iyambo Gabriel Simaneka was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment for corruptly accepting a gratification of N$300 on March 28, 2013. Recently, another police officer was convicted and fined N$7000 or alternatively one year imprisonment. Magistrate Mikka Namweya convicted Jesaya Goseb last week Thursday in the Oshakati Magistrate’s court.
Situations such as these according to the public prosecutor will let the public lose trust and confidence in the police force and convicts therefore cannot go unpunished. “Even if he is a first time offender there is nothing opposing this court to sentence the accused to direct imprisonment,” said Adriaanse. Given the circumstances and the seriousness of the crime the state proposed that Ananias be sentenced to direct imprisonment for two years. Ananias was charged for accepting N$300 from Josef Helao on July 9, 2010 after accusing him of transporting passengers without relevant documents. In the testimonies presented before the court Ananias instructed Helao to drive to the police station and upon arrival there asked him to follow him into a room, which according to the testimony presented was in fact a toilet. He then instructed Helao to give him N$300 or else to have his vehicle impounded. Helao reported the matter to the police and went to withdraw the N$300 from the Bank Windhoek ATM at the Shoprite Ongwediva Mall where he handed over the money to the accused.
By Nuusita Ashipala