Has Noa’s Ark finally found its direction?

For years, Namibians wondered whether Noa’s ark was adrift.

Today, it seems to be navigating with intent.

Whether it reaches the shore - or capsizes in the storm - remains to be seen.

The ark in question sits on Robert Mugabe Avenue in Windhoek, curving like a ship riding high waves. It is the headquarters of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), a building so symbolically shaped it begs metaphor.

And at its helm is Director General Paulus Noa - a man whose name echoes that of the biblical figure who built an ark to weather a world drowned in sin.

Noa. A name that means rest, peace, and comfort. But in Namibia’s war against corruption, there has been little peace - and even less rest.

For nearly two decades, Paulus Noa has stood at the eye of the storm. Critics have long accused him of doing too little, too late. Whispers in political corridors often paint him as the man who let too many boats pass unchecked.



Finally



Yet in recent weeks, something has shifted.

Big names - unexpected names - are being arrested. The ACC is baring its teeth. And Namibians are asking: Has Noa found a map towards where graft has entrenched itself?

The timing is potent.

Just when the nation seemed paralysed by scandal fatigue, the ACC struck again - launching fresh action against individuals many assumed were untouchable.

The ark, once still and inert, is now in motion.

Noa has always walked a cautious line - perhaps too cautious for a country battered by years of looting. But as arrests mount and investigations deepen, even hardened sceptics are beginning to watch with renewed curiosity.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether this is a genuine purge - or just another performance.

Will the arrests lead to convictions?

Will corruption be dismantled - or simply reshuffled?

Noa’s ark still floats in dangerous waters.

But if he steers it right, history may yet remember him not as a captain who drifted, but as one who finally turned into the wind.

In recent weeks, murmurs have grown louder: what fire now burns beneath the belly of the beast that is the new Noa?



Teeth



The arrest of 11 suspects in the Namcor-Enercon saga marks his most significant haul in nearly six years - since the seismic Fishrot takedowns of 2019.

And yet, in the years between, corruption waltzed on, unbothered.

Now, with a bold plunge into the murky waters of the health ministry’s medical procurement, Noa has turned heads once more.

Is this sudden surge in vigour a self-forged rebirth - or is it the wind of change brought by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s new administration, which recently charged the ACC and prosecutors to fight graft "until the last bullet is spent"?

In conversation, Noa attributes the ACC’s sharper bite to recent legislative changes - specifically the 2023 amendments to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA).

“These amendments now give the ACC direct power to investigate money laundering cases. That’s where my additional teeth come from,” he says.

And then there’s funding.

“I have always said our hands were tied - by legal limitations and lack of financial support,” he adds.

Indeed, fighting organised crime is no stroll through the park.

For years, Namibia sent Noa into battle with empty pockets, expecting him to catch big fish in a shallow net.

Yet he did.

For five years, the Fishrot scandal stood as Noa’s biggest haul. But now, another looming case could overshadow even that.

If the Namcor-linked investigations result in charges - and convictions - it could be Noa’s most significant catch yet: both in monetary terms and in the number of implicated individuals.

The ark is moving.

And for the first time in a long time, the nation is watching where it goes.