Councillor cleared of corruption

!NAMI#NÜS constituency councillor Jan Scholtz left the dock with tears in his eyes after being acquitted of corruption charges by regional magistrate Sunsley Zisengwe at Keetmanshoop on Friday.

Scholtz was accused of corruptly tabling and motivating a financial assistance request for equipment of close to N$10 000 for a Lüderitz-based butchery owned by his stepson, Clayton Bruce.

Scholtz, who is the chairperson of the //Karas Regional Council and chairperson of the management committee, allegedly failed to disclose the nature of his relationship with the owner of Tommy’s Meat Products during a council meeting late in 2011.

Bruce is a son of Scholtz’s former wife, whom he was married to when the alleged crime took place.

Scholtz previously said in court that he was not obliged to declare his kinship to Bruce as the butchery owner was not a member of his household at the time. He added that Bruce had a right as constituent resident to apply for financial assistance.

Scholtz also contended that he had nothing to do with the butchery, and instead accused former acting chief regional officer Joseph Stephanus and former director of general services Saul Kahuika of a political witch-hunt against him.

The two council officials were allegedly striking back, following their suspensions on alleged tender irregularities.

Scholtz claimed that he discussed the family relation with Stephanus, who apparently told him that there was no need for disclosure.

Zisengwe said that during questioning, Stephanus was unable to remember the alleged conversation, blaming the passage of time.

The magistrate said Scholtz acted unlawfully and in contravention of the Regional Council Act in his failure to disclose his relation to Bruce and to recuse himself from the council meeting. The court, however, accepted that Scholtz may not have been fully aware that he was transgressing.

“The accused and his legal representative insisted until the end that he was not under obligation to disclose his connection to the beneficiary.

It is thus reasonably probably true that he had this genuine mistaken belief. The possibility also exists that he may have consulted with Stephanus – the most senior official at the council at the time,” Zisengwe said.

Because of that, the court concluded that “genuine ignorance may be an excuse”, and that “knowledge of a crime” could in this instance be used as a determinant for a verdict.

The state’s inability to sufficiently prove that Scholtz deliberately and corruptly omitted to declare his interests for his own benefit further convinced the court to find the accused not guilty, the magistrate concluded.

This is the second acquittal for Scholtz who, also in 2011, was charged alongside co-accused Bernatus Waterboer of corruptly awarding a paving tender worth N$540 000 to Gerose Construction, allegedly owned by a close friend.

Prosecutor Basson Lilungwe represented the state, while Garth Joseph defended Scholtz.

– Nampa

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