Lawyer dares DRC general to prove claims

A SENIOR general from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo found himself under crossfire of a different kind when he testified in a civil case being heard in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.

General François Olenga is due to return to the witness stand to continue being cross-examined by lawyer George Coleman today.

Olenga yesterday started to testify in support of a civil claim in which he is suing a Swakopmund-based estate agent, Erwin Sprangers, for US$850 000 (currently the equivalent of about N$10,3 million) as a result of a disputed transaction between him and Sprangers some five years ago.

With Olenga claiming that he paid an amount of US$900 000 to Sprangers in September 2010, and that Sprangers has failed and refused to repay all but US$50 000 of that money to him, Coleman put it to the general yesterday that he could not prove that any money at all connected to him had been transferred to a bank account of Sprangers’ estate agency. He can prove it, Olenga responded.

In a witness statement filed at the court, a bank official says bank records show that a total amount of about N$6,78 million was paid into an account of Sprangers’ estate agency in five instalments from February to July 2010. Those payments came from an American company that was registered in the state of Delaware.

Olenga told the court he instructed that US$900 000 belonging to himself had to be paid into the trust account of Sprangers’ estate agency through the Delaware-based company. The money was supposed to be used to develop two plots of land that he had bought at Swakopmund previously, he said.

Being the owner of big tracts of land in the DRC, he made the money through buying and selling land, Olenga told the judge. He said when he later asked Sprangers to pay the US$900 000 back to him, Sprangers made a payment of US$50 000 only and then started to avoid contact with him.

Sprangers is denying the allegations.

In a plea filed with the court in response to Olenga’s claim, Sprangers says he and the general had an oral agreement that gave his estate agency a mandate to sell two unimproved properties that Olenga owned at Swakopmund. During November 2009 they also agreed orally that Olenga would act as his agent to sell an eighteenth-century Qianlong Chinese vase, he is claiming.

Sprangers is alleging that Olenga found an unnamed buyer for the antique vase at a price of N$10 million in February 2010. After the purchaser had paid about N$6,78 million, which was a part of the purchase price, into his business bank account, Sprangers further claims, he paid a commission of N$500 000 to Olenga in September 2010.

Sprangers is also saying in a witness statement filed with the court that two Chinese men collected the Qianlong vase from him at Swakopmund in July 2010.

The first that he heard of his alleged role in helping Sprangers to sell an antique Chinese vase was when he read about it in the documents lodged at the court on behalf of Sprangers, Olenga said from the witness stand yesterday.

Olenga is being represented by Ramon Maasdorp and Ray Rukoro. Coleman and Philip Swanepoel are representing Sprangers.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.