Iceland must also account - Geingob
25 November 2019 | Government
President Hage Geingob on Saturday said he has instructed attorney-general Albert Kawana to review and assess the current processes and procedures relating to the management and administration of the country's marine resources and make recommendations.
He also ordered Kawana to review the affairs and administration of the fisheries ministry and state-owned fishing company Fishcor over the last 10 years or so, and to take action in cases of maladministration, or legal steps, if so required.
Fishcor is at the centre of the allegations involving Iceland's biggest seafood company Samherji, which apparently paid between N$150 million and N$2.5 billion in bribes to Namibian politicians and officials to get their hands on what has been described as Namibia fishing quota “goldmine”.
Fishcor board chairperson James Hatuikulipi resigned from the state-owned fishing enterprise last week, amid growing pressure.
According to the 30 000 documents released by WikiLeaks recently, Samherji allegedly paid bribes for over six years. The documents include emails, internal reports, spreadsheets, presentations and photos provided by Jóhannes Stefánsson, Samherji's former representative in Namibia.
Former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau and former justice minister Sakeus Shanghala resigned from cabinet recently, while James' cousin Tamson 'Fitty' Hatuikulipi, who is also Esau's son-in-law, have also been implicated. Fitty and Shanghala's bank accounts were frozen by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) last week.
Geingob on Saturday criticised international media, especially the Icelandic press, for what he said is an attempt to influence the outcome of Wednesday's Presidential and National Assembly elections, by exposing how Namibian, Angolan and Icelandic officials were allegedly paid bribes in return for horse mackerel quotas.
During a star rally at the Sam Nujoma stadium, Geingob reiterated his administration's commitment to fighting the scourge of corruption, but said he was surprised that there seems to be a deliberate and well-orchestrated effort by sections of the media to publish certain articles on corruption to coincide with this week's election.
“I said we are practicing democracy, not to please America. Same with corruption, we are not fighting corruption to please anybody. And definitely we will take action. We talk about processes and systems.
“Therefore in our country we will do what is good for us. Iceland is attacking us. It's because [we are an] African country. Instead of talking about the corrupter, where did the money come from? Now they are already shifting blame… to a 'corrupt African country',” he said.
He said Iceland must investigate their 'corrupters' and stop putting blame on Namibia, which is an African country.
[email protected]
JEMIMA BEUKES
He also ordered Kawana to review the affairs and administration of the fisheries ministry and state-owned fishing company Fishcor over the last 10 years or so, and to take action in cases of maladministration, or legal steps, if so required.
Fishcor is at the centre of the allegations involving Iceland's biggest seafood company Samherji, which apparently paid between N$150 million and N$2.5 billion in bribes to Namibian politicians and officials to get their hands on what has been described as Namibia fishing quota “goldmine”.
Fishcor board chairperson James Hatuikulipi resigned from the state-owned fishing enterprise last week, amid growing pressure.
According to the 30 000 documents released by WikiLeaks recently, Samherji allegedly paid bribes for over six years. The documents include emails, internal reports, spreadsheets, presentations and photos provided by Jóhannes Stefánsson, Samherji's former representative in Namibia.
Former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau and former justice minister Sakeus Shanghala resigned from cabinet recently, while James' cousin Tamson 'Fitty' Hatuikulipi, who is also Esau's son-in-law, have also been implicated. Fitty and Shanghala's bank accounts were frozen by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) last week.
Geingob on Saturday criticised international media, especially the Icelandic press, for what he said is an attempt to influence the outcome of Wednesday's Presidential and National Assembly elections, by exposing how Namibian, Angolan and Icelandic officials were allegedly paid bribes in return for horse mackerel quotas.
During a star rally at the Sam Nujoma stadium, Geingob reiterated his administration's commitment to fighting the scourge of corruption, but said he was surprised that there seems to be a deliberate and well-orchestrated effort by sections of the media to publish certain articles on corruption to coincide with this week's election.
“I said we are practicing democracy, not to please America. Same with corruption, we are not fighting corruption to please anybody. And definitely we will take action. We talk about processes and systems.
“Therefore in our country we will do what is good for us. Iceland is attacking us. It's because [we are an] African country. Instead of talking about the corrupter, where did the money come from? Now they are already shifting blame… to a 'corrupt African country',” he said.
He said Iceland must investigate their 'corrupters' and stop putting blame on Namibia, which is an African country.
[email protected]
JEMIMA BEUKES
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