Court clears Ndilula after licence debacle
OGONE TLHAGE
WINDHOEK
The Windhoek Magistrate’s Court las Friday cleared former Namibia Wildlife Resorts manager Esther Ndilula after facing charges of falsely declaring that she had lost her driver’s licence.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had arrested Ndilula last year, accusing her of making a false declaration under oath about losing her driving licence when in actual fact she knew that her original licence had been confiscated by the Anti-Corruption Commission as evidence in another court case in which she was involved.
Ndilula, who was released on bail after she was arrested last year September, was investigated since 2014 on suspicion that she had obtained her licence fraudulently.
Following her acquittal on 19 August by the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, Ndilula said media reports at the time had tarnished her reputation.
“Allegations were made in the said The Namibian article and in the ACC statement that I had misled ACC officers about the whereabouts of my licence, which was confiscated by investigators as part of an investigation,” said Ndilula.
Given the insinuations made by many after the publication of the article and ACC’s press release, Ndilula said: “The negative effect the same had on my good name and reputation.”
“I stood trial in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court from 11 to 12 August 2021, at which trial the State called several witnesses. After the State led its witnesses and closed its case, my legal practitioner, Mr Sisa Namandje, brought an application for my discharge on the basis that the State failed to make out a case of any wrongdoing on my part,” Ndilula added.
According to her, her original licence is being used as an exhibit in her ongoing court case pertaining the way she acquired her licence. She further claimed that her duplicate licence got lost last year and when she went to ACC to inform them that she had renewed her licence, the ACC charged her with fraud.
“Since my licence was expiring, I went to renew it, by swearing under oath that I had lost my licence. I informed the ACC that I had renewed my licence. The ACC decided to charge me with fraud,” The Namibian quoted Ndilula as saying.
WINDHOEK
The Windhoek Magistrate’s Court las Friday cleared former Namibia Wildlife Resorts manager Esther Ndilula after facing charges of falsely declaring that she had lost her driver’s licence.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had arrested Ndilula last year, accusing her of making a false declaration under oath about losing her driving licence when in actual fact she knew that her original licence had been confiscated by the Anti-Corruption Commission as evidence in another court case in which she was involved.
Ndilula, who was released on bail after she was arrested last year September, was investigated since 2014 on suspicion that she had obtained her licence fraudulently.
Following her acquittal on 19 August by the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, Ndilula said media reports at the time had tarnished her reputation.
“Allegations were made in the said The Namibian article and in the ACC statement that I had misled ACC officers about the whereabouts of my licence, which was confiscated by investigators as part of an investigation,” said Ndilula.
Given the insinuations made by many after the publication of the article and ACC’s press release, Ndilula said: “The negative effect the same had on my good name and reputation.”
“I stood trial in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court from 11 to 12 August 2021, at which trial the State called several witnesses. After the State led its witnesses and closed its case, my legal practitioner, Mr Sisa Namandje, brought an application for my discharge on the basis that the State failed to make out a case of any wrongdoing on my part,” Ndilula added.
According to her, her original licence is being used as an exhibit in her ongoing court case pertaining the way she acquired her licence. She further claimed that her duplicate licence got lost last year and when she went to ACC to inform them that she had renewed her licence, the ACC charged her with fraud.
“Since my licence was expiring, I went to renew it, by swearing under oath that I had lost my licence. I informed the ACC that I had renewed my licence. The ACC decided to charge me with fraud,” The Namibian quoted Ndilula as saying.
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