ANTI-CORRUPTION institutions should be allowed free and objective rein to expose and investigate instances of alleged corruption without fear, favour or interference, finance minister Calle Schlettwein says.
Schlettwein made these remarks at the African Anti-Corruption Forum in the USA capital, Washington, last week, where he was awarded the transparency excellence award by the international advisory board of the African Leadership Magazine.
The finance minister said “media freedom and a free press are an absolute necessary ancillary public good in this process”.
He added that Namibia has made strides in fighting corruption, and urged African leaders to do more to fight corruption because having laws is not enough.
“Anti-corruption watchdogs should be allowed free and objective rein to expose and investigate instances of alleged corruption without fear, favour or interference,” the minister said. The legal framework should afford unfettered independence and sufficient teeth to bite, he added.
Schlettwein said penalties for people found to be corrupt should be sufficiently high to serve as a deterrent for potential future occurrences.
“Unfortunately, however, with the exorbitant rewards of corruption, this does not hold always. A wide net of preventative, investigative and punitive measures must be available,” he noted. The minister also said transparency and accountability should be enforced to gain public trust.
“This ethos necessitates compulsory disclosure provisions from all positions of public trust, both for politicians and officials,” he added.
The minister also mentioned some success stories in the fight against corruption, including the Hosea Kutako International Airport tender, which was cancelled because of suspected corruption.
“The contract, which was unprocedurally awarded, with a significant cost escalation from N$3,5 billion (US$225 million) to N$7 billion (US$451,6 million) was stopped, and the judiciary upheld this principled action,” he stated.
This indicates the extent to which conflict of interest due to potential abuse of public office can be extremely costly to state coffers, Schlettwein added.
Other matters include the N$3,5 billion tax evasion case that is currently unfolding in the courts.
“Asset freezes have been meted on instances of suspected corruption involving both public and private sector officials and suspected tenderpreneurs,” he stressed.
Schlettwein said an investigation into the masterminds of the cost escalation of large capital projects such as the N$5,5 billion national oil storage facility at Walvis Bay “is being undertaken, with consequences for suspected public officials”. That project was initially costed at N$3,7 billion in 2013, but went up to N$5,5 billion in the space of two years.
The minister stated that corruption persists, despite independence in African countries.
“After liberating ourselves from this detested political and economic pillage, we, unfortunately, are again witnessing corruption increasingly rearing its ugly head as economic opportunities arise and elitism grows,” he said.
He added: “Persistently high inequalities are a fertile ground for growing elitism, and entitlement attitudes of the elites. One of the immediate consequences may be more corruption, not less.”.
reported last year that Schlettwein strongly condemned Anti-Corruption Commission director general Paulus Noa’s decision to drop the investigation into N$36 million paid by the government to UK-based lawyers for genocide reparations advice.
“In summary, we believe that your dismissal of both the public outcry and the submitted information without properly investigating it is unfortunate, as it could be interpreted as an indication of the ACC’s unwillingness to act,” Schlettwein stated. Sources said this was not the first corruption case reported to the ACC by the finance ministry which Noa has blocked.
understands that the finance ministry also reported the disappearance of N$23 million meant for hosting the Kora All-Africa Music Awards to the ACC.
The award given to Schlettwein has a dodgy reputation though. President Hage Geingob received a leadership award from the same African Leadership Summit in 2015.
The Namibian reported at the time that the awards, linked to Nigerian-owned African Leadership Magazine, were questionable as they also awarded dictators such as former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh.
