Justicia Shipena
Five of the six people accused in the N$480 million National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) corruption and fraud case lied during their bail testimonies, magistrate Linus Samunzala said.
On Friday, Samunzala said this was one of the reasons he denied bail to the six accused in the N$480 million case.
He ruled that the evidence of all but one applicant was riddled with contradictions and falsehoods.
“It is apparent from the evidence of the applicants, with the exception of the sixth applicant, that they contradicted themselves in material respects, both in their evidence-in-chief and cross-examination, as well as in their affidavits. Their evidence was riddled with material contradictions and falsehoods,” Samunzala said.
The accused who remain in custody are former Namcor managing director Immanuel “Imms” Mulunga (53), former Namcor commercial manager Olivia Dunaiski (45), former finance manager Jennifer Hamukwaya (42), businessmen Peter (60) and Malakia Elindi (51), and Leo Nandago.
They were arrested in July on charges of fraud, money laundering, and contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act.
Two of the accused in the matter, Lydia Elindi, who is married to Malakia, and Connie van Wyk, were granted bail of N$50 000 each.
Another suspect, Victor Malima, is on the run and a warrant of arrest has been issued.
The accused argued that the state’s case was weak, chaotic, and based on commercial transactions rather than criminal acts.
They said they had no intention to flee and noted that some had voluntarily reported to the Anti-Corruption Commission before being arrested.
But Samunzala said the seriousness of the charges outweighed those arguments.
“There is no doubt that the charges are serious and involve substantial amounts of money that should have been used for public benefit. Instead, it is alleged to have been laundered and squandered for the benefit of a few,” he said.
He said corruption-related crimes cause economic and social harm equal to violent crimes and the case carried huge public interest because it involved millions of taxpayers’ money and Namcor employees.
“This matter enjoys huge public interest and has been widely and extensively reported in the media. The allegations involve millions of taxpayers’ money, and some accused persons were employees of Namcor at the time. Taking into account the seriousness of the charges and the public interest, this court finds that bail cannot be granted,” he ruled.
He said the accused failed to show they were worthy candidates for bail.
“The applicants have failed to discharge the onus of proof on a balance of probabilities that they are good candidates for bail. Notwithstanding the remote possibility that they may abscond or interfere with investigations, it is not in the public interest or the interest of the administration of justice that bail be granted.”
The six will remain in custody.
The state alleges that the accused committed fraud, corruption, and other offences when Enercon Namibia sold filling station assets at Namibian Defence Force bases to a Namcor subsidiary, Namcor Petroleum Trading & Distribution, for N$53.2 million in July 2022.
The state also claims Namcor was defrauded when Enercon and Erongo Petroleum bought fuel from Namcor, exceeded their credit limits, and failed to pay for the products.
