NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-08-08Errant driver fined over use of car
Werner Menges
A SHORT but unauthorised ride with a government vehicle has cost a driver employed with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare dearly, leaving him with a criminal conviction, an effective fine of N$2 000, and a suspended sentence hanging over him.
Magistrate Cosmos Endjala sentenced the driver, Erenfried Kavari (43), on a charge under the Anti-Corruption Act yesterday.
Kavari was sentenced to a fine of N$4 000 or eight months’ imprisonment, with half of the fine or prison term suspended for five years on condition that Kavari is not convicted of committing a similar offence during the period of suspension.
Kavari pleaded guilty to a charge of corruptly using his office or position in the public service to obtain gratification on Monday.
He admitted in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura that on 14 October 2011 he used a government car, which he was supposed to drive as part of his official duties, to transport his father, without having the required authorisation to do so.
Kavari explained to the magistrate that he diverted a distance of about 350 metres from the route he was supposed to drive with the government vehicle so that he could pick up his father and drive him to a taxi rank in Katutura.
As minor as that use of a government car for private purposes might seem, it nevertheless amounts to a contravention of a section of the Anti-Corruption Act, Kavari found out when he was arrested and charged.
Kavari was supposed to use the vehicle he was driving to transport orphaned and vulnerable children staying at the Eros Children’s Home from an after-school centre, the magistrate was told.
Corruption is an economic crime and is difficult to detect, Magistrate Endjala said during the sentencing. The corrupt use of an office or position to obtain gratification is regarded as a serious offence, he reminded Kavari.
He said he was taking into account that Kavari, who is the farther of three children, is a first-time offender. Kavari is also likely to be charged with misconduct by his employer after the end of his criminal trial, and another penalty could flow from that, the magistrate added.
Kavari was represented by defence lawyer Edwin Coetzee. Deputy Prosecutor General Jackson Kuutondokwa appeared for the State.
Magistrate Cosmos Endjala sentenced the driver, Erenfried Kavari (43), on a charge under the Anti-Corruption Act yesterday.
Kavari was sentenced to a fine of N$4 000 or eight months’ imprisonment, with half of the fine or prison term suspended for five years on condition that Kavari is not convicted of committing a similar offence during the period of suspension.
Kavari pleaded guilty to a charge of corruptly using his office or position in the public service to obtain gratification on Monday.
He admitted in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura that on 14 October 2011 he used a government car, which he was supposed to drive as part of his official duties, to transport his father, without having the required authorisation to do so.
Kavari explained to the magistrate that he diverted a distance of about 350 metres from the route he was supposed to drive with the government vehicle so that he could pick up his father and drive him to a taxi rank in Katutura.
As minor as that use of a government car for private purposes might seem, it nevertheless amounts to a contravention of a section of the Anti-Corruption Act, Kavari found out when he was arrested and charged.
Kavari was supposed to use the vehicle he was driving to transport orphaned and vulnerable children staying at the Eros Children’s Home from an after-school centre, the magistrate was told.
Corruption is an economic crime and is difficult to detect, Magistrate Endjala said during the sentencing. The corrupt use of an office or position to obtain gratification is regarded as a serious offence, he reminded Kavari.
He said he was taking into account that Kavari, who is the farther of three children, is a first-time offender. Kavari is also likely to be charged with misconduct by his employer after the end of his criminal trial, and another penalty could flow from that, the magistrate added.
Kavari was represented by defence lawyer Edwin Coetzee. Deputy Prosecutor General Jackson Kuutondokwa appeared for the State.
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