Comalie out on bail
National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) board chairperson Jennifer Comalie, who was arrested on Monday, made her first court appearance late yesterday afternoon to face charges of drug dealing.
This after a sting operation found drugs worth N$57 000 in her possession.
She was granted bail of N$7 000 on the State’s proposal and her case has been remanded to 31 July for further investigation.
When court adjourned, her friends and acquaintances rushed to the Klein Windhoek Police Station to bail her out.
Comalie was represented by lawyer Trevor Brockerhoff, who confirmed that he would be her legal counsel throughout the trial.
Her court appearance was attended by many supporters and well-wishers, including leading female lawyer Doris Kaumbi-Hans, mines minister Tom Alweendo, City of Windhoek councillors Sade Gawanas and Ivan Skrywer, as well as corporate industry players.
However, by 15:00, no charges had been laid against her and the court was delayed until about 17:30 after Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa took most of the day to consider the police docket.
Tip-off
A tip-off relating to drugs in Comalie’s car and its subsequent search came as the chairperson was on her way to a Namcor board meeting, where she was allegedly going to suspend the company’s CEO, Imms Mulunga.
According to the police, the search uncovered 935 grams of cannabis, 60 units of crack cocaine and 10 grams of cocaine powder.
This follows a call last week by Comalie for an investigation into Mulunga’s alleged involvement in a payment of over N$100 million for two Angolan oil blocks.
The investigation is believed to be into a transaction involving Namcor and Angola’s state-owned oil company, Sonangol, related to oil-producing blocks in Angola.
Threat
Meanwhile, finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi yesterday wrote to the police chief, Inspector-General Joseph Shikongo, to inform him that Comalie had requested an urgent meeting with him and Alweendo weeks ago.
She shared with them her concerns that “unspecified actions” would be taken against her in retaliation for her actions at Namcor, and expressed grave concern about her safety and that of her daughter.
“[Alweendo] and I advised her to closely monitor the situation and inform us if she observes strange activities, with the view to notify the police.
"Yesterday, on 27 March, a peculiar thing happened. I understand that she and her fellow board members were about to start a meeting with the minister of mines and energy, [when] she was called by the police, who informed her that they need to conduct a search of her vehicle. What transpired afterwards, the police are in a better position to confirm,” Shiimi wrote.
He further requested Shikongo “to consider conducting a security threat assessment and provide the necessary security support” should the threat be confirmed.
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This after a sting operation found drugs worth N$57 000 in her possession.
She was granted bail of N$7 000 on the State’s proposal and her case has been remanded to 31 July for further investigation.
When court adjourned, her friends and acquaintances rushed to the Klein Windhoek Police Station to bail her out.
Comalie was represented by lawyer Trevor Brockerhoff, who confirmed that he would be her legal counsel throughout the trial.
Her court appearance was attended by many supporters and well-wishers, including leading female lawyer Doris Kaumbi-Hans, mines minister Tom Alweendo, City of Windhoek councillors Sade Gawanas and Ivan Skrywer, as well as corporate industry players.
However, by 15:00, no charges had been laid against her and the court was delayed until about 17:30 after Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa took most of the day to consider the police docket.
Tip-off
A tip-off relating to drugs in Comalie’s car and its subsequent search came as the chairperson was on her way to a Namcor board meeting, where she was allegedly going to suspend the company’s CEO, Imms Mulunga.
According to the police, the search uncovered 935 grams of cannabis, 60 units of crack cocaine and 10 grams of cocaine powder.
This follows a call last week by Comalie for an investigation into Mulunga’s alleged involvement in a payment of over N$100 million for two Angolan oil blocks.
The investigation is believed to be into a transaction involving Namcor and Angola’s state-owned oil company, Sonangol, related to oil-producing blocks in Angola.
Threat
Meanwhile, finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi yesterday wrote to the police chief, Inspector-General Joseph Shikongo, to inform him that Comalie had requested an urgent meeting with him and Alweendo weeks ago.
She shared with them her concerns that “unspecified actions” would be taken against her in retaliation for her actions at Namcor, and expressed grave concern about her safety and that of her daughter.
“[Alweendo] and I advised her to closely monitor the situation and inform us if she observes strange activities, with the view to notify the police.
"Yesterday, on 27 March, a peculiar thing happened. I understand that she and her fellow board members were about to start a meeting with the minister of mines and energy, [when] she was called by the police, who informed her that they need to conduct a search of her vehicle. What transpired afterwards, the police are in a better position to confirm,” Shiimi wrote.
He further requested Shikongo “to consider conducting a security threat assessment and provide the necessary security support” should the threat be confirmed.
[email protected]
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