PG Imalwa’s reappointment comes under fire

The reappointment of Martha Imalwa as the country’s prosecutor-general (PG) by President Hifikepunye Pohamba last week has come under fire by experts in legal and human rights’ circles. NamRights executive director Phil ya Nangolohs said yesterday his organisation’s views regarding Imalwa’s reappointment are the same as when she was initially appointed in 2003. “The law, in this case Legal Practitioners Act 1995, had to be tailor-amended to suite her appointment. Or otherwise she would not have qualified to be appointed to that position. Several legal bodies had even gone to court in order to stop Imalwa’s (initial) appointment because of the qualification issue. There were and there are still strong beliefs in human rights’ and legal circles that her appointment was virtually a political one, considering that certain high-ranking Cabinet ministers openly campaigned for her appointment as PG. Furthermore, there is no accountability procedure for the PG. Who is the Office of the Prosecutor-General accountable to? The Judicial Service Commission (JSC)? We seriously doubt it,” Ya Nangoloh said. He said NamRights believes that Imalwa’s reappointment does not necessarily have anything to do with her performance, considering the huge backlog of unprosecuted criminal cases and several administrative hiccups. Dean of the University of Namibia Law Faculty, Professor Nico Horn, said it was not known whether there had been other nominations for the PG post. It was therefore unclear how the JSC had come to the point of recommending Imalwa to the President again as its candidate for PG. “Without knowing if there were other candidates for the position of PG, it seems to me inappropriate to speculate about the reasons for the reappointment of Imalwa. She was not involved in any scandals over the last ten years. If the public is uncomfortable with the many cases involving parastatals that came to naught, it would help if the PG had to opportunity to appear before the JSC in a public hearing and defend her decisions. Without such a process, one can only speculate on the desirability of an extension of Ms Imalwa's contract,” he said. He added that to give the PG a fixed term that is renewable, may compromise the independence of the office. If they know that at the end of their term, they can be reappointed, the PG may just opt to “play it safe”, Horn said. “The recommendation of the JSC is another questionable process as the public knows very little about how they make their recommendations. And there is no law to regulate it,” he added. A former State prosecutor, who preferred anonymity, said the PG has not been very competent in past years and that “maybe Pohamba should have appointed new blood to the office”. He said important corruption cases, involving millions of taxpayer dollars, have been gathering dust in her office awaiting decisions. “It is especially crucial that such an office bearer not be a political appointee, as we have a number of corruption cases involving prominent ruling party figures that still have to be decided for prosecution by her office. Even though they say she is not a political appointee, everything points to the contrary, as she is appointed by the President who belongs to a specific political party,” he said. The former prosecutor added that the manner in which prosecutorial decisions are made remains unknown, because there is no established policy that gives the public a right to know the reasons for them being made. The deputy dean of the Unam Law Faculty, Yvonne Dausab, however, said she is very happy with Imalwa’s reappointment. “I think it’s a very good development as the PG and her office have over the years shown competency. She has carried her team very well and her office has identified challenges that she has and continues to address. One of the important issues her office brought about is the proper training of people who wish to become magistrates or prosecutors,” said Dausab.