Defence counsel Mbanga Siyomunji yesterday had Anti-Corruption Commission investigator Andreas Kanyangela under fire during his cross-examination.

This was during a bail application lodged by Fishrot accused Tamson Hatuikulipi (43), one of the accused in the Fishrot scandal.

Siyomunji accused Kanyangela of insinuations and vague suggestions, instead of providing factual evidence.

 He said bank statements provided to the court explain where payments made to Tamson’s entities came from, while Kanyangela could not provide such statements. 

When Siyomunji cornered Kanyangela with bank statements that indicated that N$2.5 million was paid into the account of JTH Trading, one of Hatuikulipi’s business entities, for hiring building equipment, Kanyangela could only speculate that people who are involved in money-laundering always disguise the origin of the payments.

 He also questioned the conduct of Kanyangela to mainly rely on the affidavits of whistle-blower Jóhannes Stefánsson for his assumptions. Stefánsson is the one who blew the whole alleged Fishrot scheme wide open. This is Hatuikulipi’s second bail application on new facts after his previous application was dismissed by Windhoek High Court Judge David Munsu in December 2022. 

Hatuikulipi is basing his new bail application on the grounds that the trial did not start on 2 October last year as was envisaged when he made his previous bail application. 

This, he said, has caused him many hardships, including the withdrawal of his former lawyer because he could not afford to pay him. Further, Hatuikulipi said through Siyomunji that he has been in custody for almost five years, which is tantamount to being incarcerated without being convicted of a crime. Siyomunji further argued that his client has not picked up any new cases during his time in custody, which amounts to a new fact. 

Hatuikulipi’s financial position has deteriorated to the extent that he is unable to pay for rates and taxes on properties he owns, which poses the risk that the properties could be attached to pay for the bills due. The matter continues today, and is set down until Friday. Hatuikulipi was arrested in 2019 after the Fishrot scandal became public through a report by Al Jazeera, which implicated several high-profile individuals in the looting of Namibia’s fish resources. 

-rrouth@nepc.com.na