Judiciary rejects corruption allegations

ELLANIE SMIT WINDHOEK The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has rejected allegations of corruption in the appointment of the next prosecutor-general (PG).The JSC said it remained on course to fulfil its constitutional mandate in appointing the PG.This follows after the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement demanded the cancellation of the recruitment process.Describing the entire process as corrupt, AR said it had already been decided who would be appointed as PG and this was a strategy to “kill” the Fishrot case.“The public has the right to express opinions or criticise public institutions, but allegations of criminal conduct against a constitutional body, doing its best to execute an important constitutional mandate, must be grounded in fact,” the JSC said. The candidatesThree candidates – including current prosecutor-general Martha Imalwa – have been shortlisted for appointment as PG.The other shortlisted candidates are former deputy PG Taswald July, who is currently the group legal adviser at First National Bank of Namibia and chairperson of the Namibia Law Association, and former magistrate and public prosecutor Ruth Herunga.Herunga serves on the interim board of Fischor, the state-owned enterprise at the centre of the Fishrot corruption scandal.The JSC had received eight applications for the position, with five applicants not meeting the requirements as advertised.The AR demanded to know who the five other applicants were, as that was not made public by the JSC. No pubic interviewsThe JSC also announced that that it will not hold public interviews.While the AR called for transparency regarding the interviews, it also accused the JSC of changing the initial requirements set out in the advertisement after Herunga complained about it on social media.“The JSC has previously explained why it decided not to hold public hearings for the appointment of the next PG,” the commission said.It added that after the placement of the first advertisement, concerns were raised about the requirement that candidates must have 15 years’ experience as legal practitioner.The JSC said it considered these objections and saw merit in reconsidering the 15-year requirement.“Uppermost in the JSC’s mind was the legitimate concern of disenfranchising a great number of individuals, both in the public and private sector, who otherwise might be deserving of consideration.“For that reason, the JSC, after a thorough consideration and in good faith, reduced the 15-year post-admission experience requirement to 10 years,” it said.

Judiciary rejects corruption allegations

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Judiciary rejects corruption allegations

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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