The Anti-Corruption of Commission has submitted 694 corruption cases to the prosecutor general for prosecution since its inception in 2006. 

Of that number, the prosecutor general has decided to prosecute 530 cases.

 The figures were given by ACC director general Paulus Noa during the commemoration of International Anti-Corruption Day last week in Windhoek. 

Noa said it is commendable that a majority of the public has taken the bold step of speaking up and reporting cases of corruption to the commission and other law enforcement agencies. 

He noted tackling corruption depends on solid information furnished to the commission for investigation – and the end goal being prosecution. 

He said a mere suspicion is not enough.  

Noa explained, at times, it takes longer for investigations of corruption to be finalised because it depends on the nature of allegations and viability of evidence. 

“Those of you who have been observing the bail application in the so-called Fishrot saga, you have seen and observed what is required by court. The court does not require speculation, the court is not interested in rumour-mongering on the streets; it is also not interested in rumour-mongering in the documentaries that are being circulated on social media. Not at all. The court is only interested in solid evidence,” explained Noa. 

He said, for the case to be a success, someone must be prepared to stand before a court of law and testify to what they have said. 

In the absence of that, there would be nothing for someone to be pronounced guilty of a particular offence, said Noa. 

“This is very critical, and this is the message for the Namibian people to be very bold and stand ready to furnish evidence to the law enforcement agency and stand ready to even appear before court and account for what they have presented,” he said. 

It was his stance that investigating corruption is not an easy task, as, at times, the people from whom evidence is obtained might also be implicated in the same investigations. 

He gave an example of Namsov, who alerted them of illegal allocations of quotas; they felt they were deprived of quotas – only to be allocated to non-right holders. 

“But, as we were getting into the nitty-gritty of the investigations, no one wanted to tell us there was a series of bribery going on. At that same time, we found that the same very people were wining and dining on the same table with those who are today in custody in this Fishrot matter,” Noa narrated. 

Noa said Namibia should be mindful of the long-term effects of corruption on the economy and livelihood. 

“Corruption erodes the moral fabric of society and damages the ethos of democratic governments. Corruption benefits few individuals, while it is costly to the larger society. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, and erodes the quality of life,” said Noa. 

Speaking at the same event on behalf of United Nations (UN) resident coordinator in Namibia Sen Pang, deputy resident representative Anne Madzara said, annually, worldwide, countries are losing close to N$411 trillion to practices of corruption. 

“Corruption affects the whole of society, and it should be the responsibility of everyone – government officials, civil servants, law enforcement officers, media representatives, the private sector, civil society, academia, the public and youth, and all the men and women of Namibia to tackle corruption,” said Madzara. 

She further noted that in Namibia, the UN system, through the work of the agencies like the UNDP, has started engagement with the ACC, where initial efforts involve supporting them with the training of trainers of government institutions, raising awareness on transparency and accountability, and providing technical assistance to develop indicators to monitor performance, and develop public oversight tools to assist local communities to take local service providers to account.  

Madzara noted, in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, where medical supplies are vital, corruption is hindering collective response to the pandemic. 

“Corruption hinders our ability to ensure that everyone has access to the vaccine, causing many lives to be lost. Corruption is draining away valuable resources that are most needed to respond to and recover from the Covid-19 crisis,” explained Madzala.

- mamakali@nepc.com.na