Kapofi distances Swapo from Fishrot

Defence minister Frans Kapofi has distanced Swapo from the Fishrot scandal, saying the party did not initiate the corruption scandal but rather suffered as a consequence of it.

The party is alleged to have benefitted to the tune of N$7 million from the corruption scandal.

Kapofi made the comments at internal party elections held in the John Pandeni constituency in the Khomas Region over the weekend.

"We have suffered because of certain things that have happened, things like Fishrot. We lost a fortune, but it was not Swapo," Kapofi said of the scandal that led to the arrest of former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau and former justice minister Sacky Shanghala.

"How can it be a Swapo thing if you were not there?" Kapofi told party members.

Shocking reveal

A Supreme Court judgment delivered in March this year dropped a Fishrot bombshell when three judges, citing State evidence, revealed that slightly under 10% of the N$75 million – about N$7 million – derived from fishing quota auctions reached the ruling party Swapo.

The judgment was delivered during a bail appeal brought by some of the accused.

Acting appeal judges Theo Frank, Jeremiah Shongwe and Kananelo Mosito had heard arguments by Shanghala, former chairperson of the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) board James Hatuikulipi, former Fishcor CEO Mike Nghipunya, Pius Mwatelulo, Otneel Shuudifonya and Phillipus Mwapopi against High Court judge Shafimana Uietele’s decision to deny them bail in April 2022.

The justices said the Fishrot scheme, which was run by individuals in high political office, had spilled over to the Swapo Party.

According to the judgment, Esau made use of the provision relating to quotas for governmental purposes to allocate quotas for the benefit of Swapo for use at its 2017 congress, where the new leadership of the party would be elected.

Swapo has consistently denied allegations that it benefitted from the bribery scandal, saying no money was deposited into its accounts and that individual party members accused in the scandal acted in their private capacities.

Regain trust

Kapofi also questioned how the party was losing voters despite its big supporter numbers.

"Last year when we had congress, I looked at that gathering; it was a big gathering of Swapo, and the whole Windhoek was blue, red and green. Such a big number of people. Now you look at yourself and ask yourself, but how do we lose elections? Why? Is there something we can do to win elections decisively?" he asked.

Kapofi said Swapo would have to work harder to regain the trust of Namibians, saying it was concerning that the party was losing voters.

"If you look at our big gatherings, in our meetings, you can’t believe that this is a party that can be defeated, but here we are – every party that comes on the scene takes people from us, what is it that we have to do?" he said.

"When you see your numbers going down like that, you should be concerned that something serious must happen," he added.

Kapofi said political parties were happy with Swapo losing a National Assembly seat.

The party lost 14 seats in the 2019 parliamentary election, relinquishing its two-thirds majority in the process.