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CoD urges Swift action on graft

CoD urges Swift action on graft

THE Congress of Democrats has called on the public to be more vigilant about incidents of corruption and for Government to act more swiftly in such instances.

CoD Secretary General Kalla Gertze said yesterday that it was becoming increasingly difficult to believe that there was no money to raise pensions, address poverty, education and employment given the recent spate of corrupt acts involving millions of dollars in public resources. Gertze maintained that in the aftermath of the struggle for Independence, the country’s inefficient management of its affairs has “created more opportunities for crooks than it has for honest workers”.The official opposition party called a press conference in Windhoek yesterday to express its position on recent developments in the country, posing numerous questions it says Government still needs to provide answers on.The party said it was fully in support of President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s anti-corruption drive and said it was glad to note the changes that have come about under his leadership.”It is clear that we have been dealing with a very corrupt regime and I take this from the words of our new President when he said that he was and is being criticised when says that there is corruption in Namibia,” said Gertze.The party said citizens should be on the lookout for all cases of corruption, not only those that involved money – especially in cases of employment, distribution of wealth, service to the public, social care and welfare.”I call on families, friends and relatives to interrogate their loved ones when they suddenly appear with a Mercedes-Benz when there has not been a bicycle.We know ourselves and we know what we may be capable of,” said Gertze in reference to players in the Avid-SSC scam who have enriched themselves in a short space of time.Gertze said it was a shame that “the name of the struggle” was being used to open up avenues for corruption.The party also spoke out on the Government’s ongoing search for N$100 million invested by the Offshore Development Company, the manner in which the Government Institutions’ Pension Fund (GIPF) grants loans and the Ministry of Defence’s botched N$3-million arms deal.Gertze said he couldn’t fathom how Government institutions selected the companies they invested with, nor under which mandate the CEOs of State companies approved such large investments.He said it was not acceptable that the Ministry of Justice had closed the book on returning the money it had paid to a ghost company for arms it never received.”Why is it that in all these deals fake companies are always involved?” Gertze questioned.The CoD said past Presidential Commissions of Inquiry had failed to bring justice to the culprits involved in wasting public resources and Government had to take quicker action when such incidents were brought to light.The CoD will stage an anti-corruption march in Windhoek at midday on Monday, when civil society is expected to walk from the main post office in Independence Avenue to the Prime Minister’s Office to hand over a petition in support of Pohamba’s call for a corruption-free Namibia.Gertze maintained that in the aftermath of the struggle for Independence, the country’s inefficient management of its affairs has “created more opportunities for crooks than it has for honest workers”.The official opposition party called a press conference in Windhoek yesterday to express its position on recent developments in the country, posing numerous questions it says Government still needs to provide answers on.The party said it was fully in support of President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s anti-corruption drive and said it was glad to note the changes that have come about under his leadership.”It is clear that we have been dealing with a very corrupt regime and I take this from the words of our new President when he said that he was and is being criticised when says that there is corruption in Namibia,” said Gertze.The party said citizens should be on the lookout for all cases of corruption, not only those that involved money – especially in cases of employment, distribution of wealth, service to the public, social care and welfare.”I call on families, friends and relatives to interrogate their loved ones when they suddenly appear with a Mercedes-Benz when there has not been a bicycle.We know ourselves and we know what we may be capable of,” said Gertze in reference to players in the Avid-SSC scam who have enriched themselves in a short space of time.Gertze said it was a shame that “the name of the struggle” was being used to open up avenues for corruption.The party also spoke out on the Government’s ongoing search for N$100 million invested by the Offshore Development Company, the manner in which the Government Institutions’ Pension Fund (GIPF) grants loans and the Ministry of Defence’s botched N$3-million arms deal.Gertze said he couldn’t fathom how Government institutions selected the companies they invested with, nor under which mandate the CEOs of State companies approved such large investments.He said it was not acceptable that the Ministry of Justice had closed the book on returning the money it had paid to a ghost company for arms it never received.”Why is it that in all these deals fake companies are always involved?” Gertze questioned.The CoD said past Presidential Commissions of Inquiry had failed to bring justice to the culprits involved in wasting public resources and Government had to take quicker action when such incidents were brought to light.The CoD will stage an anti-corruption march in Windhoek at midday on Monday, when civil society is expected to walk from the main post office in Independence Avenue to the Prime Minister’s Office to hand over a petition in support of Pohamba’s call for a corruption-free Namibia.

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