Ruling on Namandje’s financial books postponed to August

Staff Reporter
Windhoek

Judgement in the court matter between lawyer Sisa Namandje and the Law Society of Namibia, which was due to be delivered on Friday, has been postponed to 14 August.
“The presiding judge will not be able to deliver the judgement due to medical reasons, as communicated to the judge president,” judiciary spokesperson Ockert Jansen said.
The court battle relates to demands by the Law Society for Namandje to open his trust account for scrutiny. Namandje has argued, among others, that opening his books to the extent wanted by the Law Society would violate his clients’ confidentiality.
However, the society argued that Namandje’s insistence on attorney-client privilege is for his own interest and an attempt to frustrate the investigation into his own alleged unsatisfactory conduct.
Last week, while testifying in the Fishrot bail application of former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau and his son-in-law Tamson Hatuikulipi, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigator Willem Olivier said N$15 million and N$2.5 million were paid into Namandje's law firm’s trust account under the reference “governmental objectives”.
“This was flagged as suspicious. Part of this money was used for vehicles, personal loans and other items. And as far as investigations found, monies were used for the Swapo campaign,” he said, without saying which ruling party campaign he was referring to.
President Hage Geingob said on Sunday during a Swapo media conference that individuals may have received unexplained monies, including from the Fishrot scandal, but none of these funds were paid directly into the ruling party’s bank accounts.