Allexer Namundjembo
The High Court has found the chairperson of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Salmaan Jacobs, guilty of corruption in a case that dates back more than a decade.
High Court judges Naomi Shivute and Marilize du Plessis delivered the judgement on Friday, ruling that Jacobs contravened section 43(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2003, which prohibits public officials from using their position for personal gain.
The case against Jacobs began with investigations in 2007, when he served as chief regional officer of the ||Karas Regional Council.
This followed allegations that he irregularly claimed allowances and approved payments to a company connected to his wife.
The trial started in 2013 at the Keetmanshoop Regional Court, where Jacobs was acquitted a year later after the magistrate ruled that the state had not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
This came after his acquittal on three similar charges in 2013, when the state again failed to prove its case.
That same year, in the same case, Jacobs was acquitted of charges related to allegedly claiming unlawful subsistence and travel allowances for a 2006 trip to Germany.
The state then appealed the ruling, arguing that the lower court had misinterpreted key points of law and fact.
The High Court has now overturned that acquittal.
“The allegation by the state was that the accused used his position as chief regional officer of the ||Karas Regional Council to obtain payment of N$30 000 into an account held by a close corporation of which he and his wife were the sole shareholders,” the judgement seen by the Windhoek Observer reads.
Shivute and Du Plessis also ruled that Jacobs approved a second payment of N$4 500 into the same account for catering services provided by his wife’s company.
“The state has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused received gratification in the amount of at least N$4 500 as a result of his corrupt actions,” the ruling states.
Jacobs had pleaded not guilty to five corruption charges when his trial began in the Keetmanshoop Regional Court in 2012.
The state argued that Jacobs awarded a catering contract in October and November 2006 to Sadadi Enterprise CC, a company in which he had an interest.
The state argued that he failed to declare this interest and used his position as the council’s tender board chairperson to unlawfully award the contract.
The matter has been sent back to the Keetmanshoop Regional Court for sentencing on or before 21 November.
