Justicia Shipena
Former National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) executive and fraud-corruption accused Olivia Dunaiski has described the judgement denying her bail as a “shocking” one.
Dunaiski is now appealing the decision and is asking the High Court to condone delays in her bail appeal and allow the matter to be heard on its merits.
Magistrate Linus Samunzala denied bail to Dunaiski and her co-accused in September last year.
In his ruling, Samunzala said five of the six people accused in the N$480 million Namcor corruption and fraud case lied during their bail testimonies.
She said the ruling which denied bail applied a one-size-fits-all approach and failed to assess each bail application on its own merits.
On Thursday, she submitted a founding affidavit, requesting forgiveness for the delay in recording her appeal, the reinstatement of the appeal, and authorisation to submit her heads of argument beyond the stipulated time frame.
Dunaiski said her notice of appeal was finalised by her legal practitioner on 27 October 2025 but could only be served to the prosecutor general’s office the following day due to time constraints.
She said the slight delay should not be held against her, noting that bail appeals are civil in nature and not subject to the strict timelines that apply to criminal convictions.
She said further delays followed because the magistrate’s court record took a long time to be completed and sent to the High Court.
The appeal was only formally registered on 24 December 2025, after which her legal practitioner’s offices closed for the festive season.
She said it then became impossible to meet deadlines for filing heads of argument because the notice of set down was served on 29 December 2025, when many law firms were closed and public holidays were in effect.
She added that the matter also fell during a court recess.
Dunaiski said the delays were not deliberate and did not prejudice the state.
She argued that she would suffer greater prejudice if the appeal were not heard, as she would remain in custody and deprived of her liberty.
She added that she initially delayed instructing her lawyers to proceed because she feared the appeal would again be treated under a blanket approach, similar to what she believes happened during the bail hearing.
She said her concerns eased once she learnt that two judges would hear the appeal independently.
She also criticised the bail proceedings, claiming the magistrate showed bias against the applicants and relied heavily on the investigating officer’s version.
She said the court failed to properly consider defence evidence and unfairly branded bail applicants as untruthful.
Dunaiski said she has good prospects for success on appeal and that the High Court should exercise its discretion in her favour, given that the matter concerns personal liberty and that bail applications are urgent by nature.
On Wednesday, the Namcor bail appeal was postponed after state prosecutor Lilungwe Basson told the Windhoek High Court that the State was not ready to proceed.
The accused include the Elindi brothers, Peter and Malakia, and former Namcor executives Immanuel Mulunga, Jeniffer Hamukwaya, Olivia Dunaiski, and Leo Nandago.
Dunaiski are appealing a magistrate’s court decision delivered late last year that denied them bail on fraud-related charges.
She was arrested on 8 July 2025 after being requested by a police officer to report to the Windhoek Police Station.
Dunaiski is in custody at Windhoek Central Prison in the trial-awaiting section.
