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09:05Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf SMS Of The Day * WHY doesn’t NBC listen when they are criticised? The little red chairs on Good Morning Namibia have done their part and are dirty especially at the arm rests. Please listen for once. You interview professionals and internationals on those Food For Thought * MINISTRY of Education, in order to address the shortages of teachers at primary schools why don’t you consider employing us who hold a diploma in lifelong learning and community education for teaching posts? We also did health education Bouquets And Brickbats * MY fellow Namibians, I am not a Swapo member but a third term for President Hifikepuye Pohamba will be a step closer towards attainment of Vision 2030. Believe me His Excellency has made crucial bold decisions, and I don’t regret
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NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-07-22
Hailulu fails to block ACC probe
Werner Menges
THE chief executive officer of the National Housing Enterprise, Vinson Hailulu, has failed with an attempt to block an Anti-Corruption Commission investigation of allegations made against him.
An application by Hailulu for a court order that would have set aside a decision of the Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct an investigation of allegations against him, and that would have declared invalid criminal proceedings initiated against him in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court on Friday.
Hailulu however succeeded in getting a court order declaring a warrant for his arrest, and the arrest that was carried out on 27 November 2008, unlawful and to have the arrest warrant set aside.
In a judgement delivered by Judge President Petrus Damaseb it was found that the ACC was justified in initiating an investigation against Hailulu during 2007. The ACC however failed to properly consider whether it was necessary to arrest Hailulu to have him brought before court, or if less drastic action such as summoning or warning him to appear in court would have been sufficient, Judge President Damaseb also found.
Hailulu was alleging that the ACC’s investigation, his arrest by an ACC official on November 27 2008, and the charges on which he subsequently appeared in court, were all instigated and orchestrated by a group of disgruntled former NHE employees who had a grudge against him after they had lost their jobs in a restructuring process undertaken after his appointment as CEO of the NHE.
Hailulu asked the court to set aside the ACC’s decision to investigate allegations made against him, and also to set aside the warrant which authorised his arrest.
Thirteen charges were levelled against Hailulu after his arrest, Judge President Damaseb recounted in his judgement. These included two charges in which Hailulu was accused of having appointed new employees at the NHE and having promoted an employee contrary to the policies and procedures of the NHE. It should have been obvious to the ACC and its officers that the allegations at the root of those two charges cannot constitute corruption as defined by the Anti-Corruption Act, Judge President Damaseb found.
“It seems to me a manifest overreach to pursue criminal prosecution of an alleged failure to comply with administrative stipulations relating to personnel appointments, unless it can be shown that it was for gratification,” he stated. “It is a trivialisation of the ACC’s role which, in my view, was not intended by the legislature.”
The same does not apply to the other charges against Hailulu, though. Those charges involve allegations that he had used an NHE credit card for private purposes, that he had extended financial benefits to a business associate who was also a board member of the NHE, and to himself and his family when they were not entitled to such benefits, and that NHE employees had performed private work for Hailulu.
“If true, most of these allegations amount to theft,” Judge President Damaseb stated.
The ACC - even if its investigation sprung from allegations made by disgruntled ex-employees of the NHE and by a trade union that had come to their aid - had proper grounds to carry out an investigation, the judge found.
He said: “The charges that relate to the alleged corrupt use of the NHE credit card therefore form a proper basis for investigation and prosecution under the Anti-Corruption Act, as do those that accuse (Hailulu) of extending unmerited benefits to a business partner, himself and his family, and that alleging that he used for private ends the labour of employees of the NHE at the latter’s expense.”
He also stated: “I have no hesitation in holding that those allegations, if proved at a criminal trial, would constitute corruption as that word has since been interpreted by the Supreme Court.”
Judge President Damaseb also rejected an argument that the prosecutor general should have first taken a decision to prosecute Hailulu before he could be arrested. The plain language of the Anti-Corruption Act does not support such a conclusion, he found.
Hailulu was represented by Theo Barnard and Sisa Namandje. Senior counsel Vincent Maleka and Harald Geier - before his appointment as a judge - represented the ACC, while Geier alone represented the prosecutor general when the case was argued in March last year.
An application by Hailulu for a court order that would have set aside a decision of the Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct an investigation of allegations against him, and that would have declared invalid criminal proceedings initiated against him in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court on Friday.
Hailulu however succeeded in getting a court order declaring a warrant for his arrest, and the arrest that was carried out on 27 November 2008, unlawful and to have the arrest warrant set aside.
In a judgement delivered by Judge President Petrus Damaseb it was found that the ACC was justified in initiating an investigation against Hailulu during 2007. The ACC however failed to properly consider whether it was necessary to arrest Hailulu to have him brought before court, or if less drastic action such as summoning or warning him to appear in court would have been sufficient, Judge President Damaseb also found.
Hailulu was alleging that the ACC’s investigation, his arrest by an ACC official on November 27 2008, and the charges on which he subsequently appeared in court, were all instigated and orchestrated by a group of disgruntled former NHE employees who had a grudge against him after they had lost their jobs in a restructuring process undertaken after his appointment as CEO of the NHE.
Hailulu asked the court to set aside the ACC’s decision to investigate allegations made against him, and also to set aside the warrant which authorised his arrest.
Thirteen charges were levelled against Hailulu after his arrest, Judge President Damaseb recounted in his judgement. These included two charges in which Hailulu was accused of having appointed new employees at the NHE and having promoted an employee contrary to the policies and procedures of the NHE. It should have been obvious to the ACC and its officers that the allegations at the root of those two charges cannot constitute corruption as defined by the Anti-Corruption Act, Judge President Damaseb found.
“It seems to me a manifest overreach to pursue criminal prosecution of an alleged failure to comply with administrative stipulations relating to personnel appointments, unless it can be shown that it was for gratification,” he stated. “It is a trivialisation of the ACC’s role which, in my view, was not intended by the legislature.”
The same does not apply to the other charges against Hailulu, though. Those charges involve allegations that he had used an NHE credit card for private purposes, that he had extended financial benefits to a business associate who was also a board member of the NHE, and to himself and his family when they were not entitled to such benefits, and that NHE employees had performed private work for Hailulu.
“If true, most of these allegations amount to theft,” Judge President Damaseb stated.
The ACC - even if its investigation sprung from allegations made by disgruntled ex-employees of the NHE and by a trade union that had come to their aid - had proper grounds to carry out an investigation, the judge found.
He said: “The charges that relate to the alleged corrupt use of the NHE credit card therefore form a proper basis for investigation and prosecution under the Anti-Corruption Act, as do those that accuse (Hailulu) of extending unmerited benefits to a business partner, himself and his family, and that alleging that he used for private ends the labour of employees of the NHE at the latter’s expense.”
He also stated: “I have no hesitation in holding that those allegations, if proved at a criminal trial, would constitute corruption as that word has since been interpreted by the Supreme Court.”
Judge President Damaseb also rejected an argument that the prosecutor general should have first taken a decision to prosecute Hailulu before he could be arrested. The plain language of the Anti-Corruption Act does not support such a conclusion, he found.
Hailulu was represented by Theo Barnard and Sisa Namandje. Senior counsel Vincent Maleka and Harald Geier - before his appointment as a judge - represented the ACC, while Geier alone represented the prosecutor general when the case was argued in March last year.
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(August 13)
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