Lawyer Sisa Namandje has confirmed to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) that his law firm handled millions of dollars that now form part of the Fishrot investigation.
In a sworn statement submitted to the ACC in October last year, Namandje revealed that between 2012 and 2017, his law firm – Sisa Namandje & Co Inc. – has dealt with millions linked to Swapo.
Namandje holds a majority 75% share in his law firm.
His statement was a response to a request by the ACC to explain huge transactions that went through his law firm’s trust account between 2012 and 2019.
Between 2015 and 2017, Namandje’s law firm received and processed payments amounting to about N$23 million alleged to be part of the Fishrot corruption scandal.
These transactions involved about N$17,5 million transferred from the National Fishing Corporation (Fishcor), and N$5 million from a company called Mermaria Seafood Namibia (Pty) Ltd.
The lawyer revealed that at least N$7,5 million of the N$23 million processed through the trust account of his firm was meant to fund Swapo’s “2017 congress activities” at which president Hage Geingob was elected party president.
This includes the N$5 million payment by Mermaria and N$2,5 million by Fishcor.
Both payments were made in August 2017 – a few months before Swapo’s sixth elective congress.
Mermaria is a subsidiary of Samherji – an Icelandic company at the centre of the Fishrot corruption scandal.
According to Namandje’s statement, former Swapo secretary-general Nangolo Mbumba was aware of these payments.
“I informed the party’s secretary-general, Nangolo Mbumba, of the donations from Seaflower [Fishcor],” he said.
About N$15 million from Fishcor was later paid to businessman Vaino Nghipondoka and Swapo’s Oshikoto regional coordinator, Armas Amukwiyu, in 2015.
The lawyer claimed not to have known the millions passing through his law firm’s trust account were linked to criminal activities.
“I have already furnished the ACC with a statement on 6 May 2020. The statement of 6 May, as this one does too, sufficiently demonstrates that neither I nor the law firm was knowingly a party to any criminal activities, if such activities are proved to have occurred,” he said.
Prior to the 2014 national and presidential elections, Namandje said he was requested by Swapo to assist with fundraising, “in particular to receive donations on its behalf from various business entities and individuals, including its election campaign activities”.
“As a result, I hosted a fundraising event at Onyaanya, in the Oshikoto region, and the funds raised were collected by the firm and paid over directly to the Swapo Party,” he said.
According to him, the party circulated the law firm’s bank details and requested that such donations be paid directly into the law firm’s account, which would then redistribute the funds.
A trust account in the name of the ruling party was then opened with Namandje’s firm.
“ . . . various individuals and companies paid money into our trust account as donations to the party between August and November 2014. These funds were dealt with as per the client’s instruction. This information is privileged and confidential and cannot be disclosed. The file was closed after the elections,” he said.
Funds received through this arrangement, Namandje said, were later transferred into an existing file of a trust of which Swapo is a 100% beneficiary, namely the Lemon Square Fishing Trust Fund.
Apart from recent transactions of about N$23 million linked to the Fishrot scandal, Namandje was also asked to explain a N$16 million payment linked to Swapo.
He said in February 2012, N$16 million was paid into the law firm’s trust account through a joint venture called Yucor Investments.
This venture is made up of a company owned by the Swapo Party Youth League (Spyl) and Esja Mar/Mermaria Seafood Namibia.
At the time, Namandje said, a certain Henock Nantanga and lawyer Rodgers Kauta opened the file with his law firm in the name of Yucor Investments.
Namandje, however, did not explain how the N$16 million was disbursed from his law firm’s trust account, claiming attorney-client privilege.
“How the funds were disbursed and used is a matter directly at the heart of attorney-client privilege and confidentiality, and the law firm is thus under no obligation to disclose such privileged information as advised by counsel,” he said.
He also didn’t explain the N$4 million paid from Oluvala Design and Production CC into Sisa Namandje & Co Inc’s trust account.
“These funds have nothing to do with Fishcor at all,” Namandje said.
The lawyer admitted to not providing all the details to the ACC when he made his statement.
He said this is due to the serious litigation between himself, the law firm and the Law Society of Namibia.
“Disclosure of privileged and confidential information to the ACC whilst the same matter is sub judice, and while that dispute has not been definitively resolved, may inevitably work against the law firm and its clients in future,” he said.
Namandje also defended the N$500 000 paid into his account by Amukwiyu.
The lawyer said Amukwiyu was just settling an old debt, which funded Swapo activities. The debt was accumulated by Amukwiyu on behalf of
Swapo.
Debts incurred by Swapo include the use of Namandje’s guest house at Onyaanya to host activities of the ruling party.
Attempts to get comment from Namandje over the weekend proved futile, as his phone went unanswered.
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