By Surihe Gaomas WINDHOEK An immigration officer who went on a joy-ride partying with his cronies on New Year’s Day at the expense of tax-payers in a GRN-registered vehicle will face the music with his case now before court. Caught in the hype of celebrations, the immigration officer, Abner Jappy Nangolo, rammed the vehicle into a stationary taxi and in desperation tried to flee the scene of the crash. Prior to the accident, the official, according to information from the police, drove to the Goreangab Dam, a recreational spot popular among revellers, where he “enjoyed” himself with two friends using a vehicle allocated to Home Affairs. After the party, Nangolo rammed the official vehicle into a taxi whose driver gave chase and caught up with him. A verbal agreement was reached by the two for Nangolo to repair the taxi. The case has however taken on a more serious dimension and could even jeopardise police Constable Kenneth Hangue’s job as he allegedly colluded with the accused to twist facts regarding the case. According to the Anti Corruption Commission, which has taken a keen interest in the case, on January 2 reality sank in for Nangolo. “After he fully realised that he had not reported the accident and the fact that the accident happened at a place not connected to his official route, Mr Nangolo went to the police station where he approached a police officer to rescue him by making a false report as to the facts surrounding this accident.” Both Nangolo and Hangue agreed to the deal and a docket was registered for investigation, but with the false facts – all under oath that ” … the accident occurred opposite Pick ‘n Pay Supermarket in Katutura” and not near Wanaheda Police Station. Another falsehood was that “Constable Hangue visited the scene and found two vehicles … and that he spoke to both drivers at the scene.” It was further incorrectly stated under oath that Constable Hangue ” … inspected both vehicles at the scene of the accident and took note of the damage to both vehicles.” The ACC reported that, ” … he (Constable Hangue) then drafted a false sketch plan of the accident”, all in a sworn declaration by the investigating officer. However, the two suspects were caught out when the ACC, through its intensive investigations, found a different story to the police declaration after questioning the two passengers who were in the Government vehicle at the time as well as the taxi driver. It was discovered that no police officer had visited the scene of the accident and that the incident occurred in Wanaheda and not Katutura. Both Nangolo and Hangue are accused of misusing their public positions to carry out corrupt deeds, lying under oath and misleading the investigation through lies. This ultimately led to the swift arrest of both the police and immigration officials on Tuesday this week. They were detained at the Hosea Kutako International Airport prior to their court appearance in the Katutura Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning. The Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Paulus Noa, confirmed that it was not the first time that public officials who are supposed to work for the law – worked against the law. “These type of things are happening many times and such cases are swept under the carpet where public officials give false statements and thereby twist the facts,” said Noa who stressed that there was a need to expose such acts in order to root out corruption. The police constable now stands accused of having violated the Anti-Corruption Act 8 of 2003 Section 43 (1) in that he misused his position to assist the accused. Another charge is that he lied under oath while obstructing the course of justice. Nangolo faces similar charges. The two appeared in court at Katutura yesterday where they were granted bail of N$500 each. The case was postponed.