Parliament haunted by ‘N$5m theft’

Parliament has come under fire for allegedly concealing the theft of over N$5 million and quietly dismissing the implicated staff members without approaching the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) or the police.Following repeated ultimatums by leader of Affirmative Repositing (AR) Job Amupanda, the National Assembly issued a two-page statement on Saturday, confirming that theft took place, but stating that only N$1.2 million had been embezzled by three staff members.The National Assembly took particular offense to Amupanda’s accusation that “multimillion-dollar parliamentary corruption” was “covered up”.In its statement, Parliament dismissed Amupanda’s claims, saying it does not cover up, nor condone corrupt activities. It added that Amupanda’s allegations are false and misleading.The National Assembly however confirmed that instead of the ACC Act, it used the State Finance Act to deal with the culprits, which allows it to recover monies by way of salary deduction or from the suspects’ pensions.“The cases have been resolved as follows: One of the implicated staff members has been discharged and money has been recovered from the member’s pension; another staff member has resigned and money has been recovered from his pension and leave gratuity, and the third staff member has resigned and the recovery process of state monies involved is underway,” the statement read.Meanwhile, yesterday the National Council issued its own statement confirming that one of its accountants also embezzled money and resigned soon after the theft was discovered.However, the National Council allegedly opened a case with the Namibian Police and the suspect was reportedly arrested soon afterwards. The case currently ongoing in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court where it was postponed until 16 May for preliminary plea proceedings.‘Financial irregularities’In response to its statement, Amupanda on Monday accused Parliament of lying and said - in fact – four, not three, staff members were involved in theft and embezzlement, which allegedly amounts to more than N$5 million.“They deserve to be informed, as I hereby do, that the corruption at the National Assembly is actually more than N$5 million cumulatively. They deserve to know that parliamentary leaders have been covering up corruption on this matter for close to three years from the case of that one who bought cell phones for his multiple girlfriends with Parliament money.“The people of Namibia deserve to know that parliamentary leaders have contravened the provisions of the Anti-Corruption Act. To the people of Namibia, it is thus clear that corruption indeed took place at the National Assembly and this corruption, baptised only as ‘financial irregularities’ has not been reported to the police or the ACC. It is clear that parliamentary leaders knew and actively worked to organise smooth passage and landing for the culprits on numerous occasions,” he said.According to Amupanda, the National Assembly has in the past used the full wrath of the law to deal with culprits who took less money than what is currently in question, which begs the question whether spoils were shared with parliamentary leaders.Perpetuated corruptionMeanwhile, critics have raised the red flag over what appears to be “corruption committed and dealt with behind closed doors or in secret”.According to Professor Joseph Diescho, Parliament’s admission that three employees have been identified to have committed corrupt activities and that the matter was handled as an in-house affair is itself a corrupt activity.“The funds that were embezzled are not funds belonging to the appointed individual leaders in the National Assembly, but [are] state funds. Those who embezzled should have been reported to the ACC for immediate action as prescribed by the law.“Failure by the National Assembly to allow the legal entity, namely the ACC, is an act of cover-up. To have allowed the embezzlers of state funds to go quietly as if no crime was committed is undoubtedly an act of facilitating and sanctioning corrupt behaviour,” he said.Long time comingMeanwhile, Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament Celeste Becker told Eagle FM that the implicated people included an accountant in the finance department who allegedly resigned last year when it came to light that he stole close to N$1 million.It is alleged that the second suspect was a director in legal services who resigned two years ago for allegedly misappropriating gadgets, including MTC contract devices meant for Parliament directors, and reportedly giving them to his lovers.Another suspect was allegedly responsible for National Assembly procurement, and reportedly paid ghost companies as well as procured goods from his own company.jemima@namibiansun.com

Parliament haunted by ‘N$5m theft’

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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Parliament haunted by ‘N$5m theft’

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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