Acting director general of the Anti-Corruption Commission Paulus Noa has implored citizens to stand together and fight the scourge of corruption. 

Noa made these remarks during the regional consultative meeting on the overview of the second National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan 2021-2025 at Katima Mulilo on Monday.

 “Let us do away with the syndrome that fighting corruption is the exclusive responsibility of ACC, the syndrome that it is the government’s responsibility alone, and a syndrome that only public officials can be investigated against bribery. Both the giver and the receiver of bribe is equally guilty of corruption,” said Noa. 

He also condemned perceptions that only certain people in society were deemed corrupt. Noa further stated individuals who are entrusted to manage government resources are equally to be blamed, as many a time they use those in authority as a shield to commit corruption. “What is happening today in Namibia is not what some Namibian people perceive, that the system has become a corrupt system, it is not true. The political leadership has become a corrupt political leadership; it is not true. 

There are individuals within the society that are actually committing corruption, and some of these individuals when they commit corruption, they commit it in the name of political principles. We have observed this in a number of cases that we have been investigating,” said Noa. 

Speaking at the same event, Zambezi regional governor Lawrence Sampofu stated that corruption is one of the world’s biggest threats to development. 

“Corruption is destructive to the economy, democracy and rule of law. It has no room in our society,” said Sampofu.