Both the former commanding officer of the Police's Finance Division, Joseph Kamati, and the head of its Special Branch, Lotti Neruma Uusiku, yesterday pleaded not guilty to all charges of theft brought against them before Magistrate Sarel Jacobs.

Both men are accused of misappropriating amounts of N$500, N$700 and N$600 from the Special Branch's operational funds on three separate occasions in 2005.

Uusiku faces an additional charge of stealing N$12 000 from these funds between 2005 and 2006.

Kamati has since resigned from the police, while Uusiku remains on suspension.

In a plea read on his behalf by his defence lawyer Jan Wessels, Uusiku denied any knowledge of the N$12 000 that had gone missing.

Both men however acknowledged that the three other amounts named had been lent to Kamati by Uusiku as head of the Special Branch.

They both claimed that this was done in accordance with accepted procedures within the Namibian Police.

According to Uusiku, he was under the impression that the amounts had been for subsistence and travel (S&T) money owed to Kamati, adding that he did not know that it was for Kamati's personal use, as was charged.

Kamati, on the other hand, through his defence lawyer Charles Visser, acknowledged that the loan had been to help him cover "personal liabilities", but said that he was under the impression that Uusiku was entitled to lend him such amounts.

He said it had always been his intention to repay the loan, adding that the full amount had subsequently been paid back.

The only witness called to the stand yesterday was the commanding officer of the Namibian Police, Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga.

Ndeitunga, when questioned by prosecutor Brownwell Uirab, said he was informed in February 2006 by a whistleblower inside the Police of certain financial misadministration in the Special Branch.

Ndeitunga added that he almost assigned Kamati to head the investigation into these allegations.

"I called Kamati.

He was my right-hand man when it came to inspections of money.

I told him that I had received some information that something was wrong and that I wanted him to launch an investigation to detect what this was.

But when he asked me what specifically I wanted checked, something suspicious came to me," Ndeitunga said, adding that he cancelled the order he had given Kamati.

When Kamati went on leave soon thereafter, Ndeitunga said he decided to re-launch the investigation with Kamati's deputy and the Police's auditor in charge.

This "surprise investigation" found a discrepancy in the Special Branch's operational funds' books, he said.

Ndeitunga's suspicions were further raised when Uusiku appeared evasive when asked to present the physical money.

The money had been locked in a cashbox inside a safe in Uusiku's office, the Police Chief said, and when the investigators wanted to obtain it, they were told that Uusiku was in a meeting and could not help them.

The next day, Ndeitunga said, Uusiku was unable to come up with the key to the box.

They eventually had the cashbox broken open days later, to find that instead of the expected amount of N$16 800, only N$2 800 was in the box.

Under cross-examination by both Wessels and Visser, Ndeitunga refused to give in to their insistence that it was appropriate for the Special Branch's operational money to be used for any other purpose than official Police business.

"Special Branch is not a cash loan [company].

This is Government money," Ndeitunga said.

The trial continues today.

The two men's bail of N$2 000 each remains in effect until then.

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