Ministry of Health tender suspects want bail reduced

THE four men arrested last week in connection with alleged corruption around construction projects that cost the Ministry of Health over N$1,4 million are set to hear on Friday if the bail granted to them will be reduced from N$50 000 each or not.

Construction company owner Johannes Jarson (42) and Health Ministry employees Derek Jansen (37), Simon Ipinge (38) and Nicolaas van Wyk (39) were granted bail of N$50 000 each with their first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday last week.On Friday, lawyers representing the men asked Magistrate Helvi Shilemba to reduce the bail amount. They argued that the men, who were arrested on Tuesday last week, cannot afford to pay N$50 000 each to be released from custody.Magistrate Shilemba is scheduled to give her ruling on the request for a bail reduction on Friday this week.The four men are charged with six main counts, made up of three main charges of corruptly using an office or position for gratification, alternatively fraud, and three other main charges of corruptly giving a false document to an agent, alternatively forgery and uttering.They are accused of having corruptly conspired in the period from October 2007 to June 2008 to get the Health Ministry to make payments totalling a little more than N$1,41 million to Giola Building Construction CC, which is alleged to be owned by Jarson.The payments were supposedly made for work that Giola Building Construction did at Eenhana State Hospital and with the building of a clinic, a mortuary and staff accommodation for the Health Ministry at Otjituuo.However, it is alleged that Giola Building Construction never tendered for the contracts it was paid for, and also did not do any work on the projects.Anti-Corruption Commission investigator Oberty Inambao told the court on Friday that the ACC has been investigating the case from about the middle of 2009.He said it was established during the investigation that after payments from the Health Ministry were made into Jarson’s business account, large cash withdrawals were made from the account, and these were followed by cash deposits into bank accounts of the other three charged men.Two deposits of N$35 000 each were made into accounts of Ipinge on the same day that a withdrawal had been made from Jarson’s account, while a cash deposit of N$30 000 was also made into an account of Van Wyk after a withdrawal had been made from Jarson’s account, Inambao testified.He added that no such deposits were made into the personal account of Jansen, but deposits were made into the account of a relative of Jansen at the same time that a withdrawal had been made from Jarson’s account.Defence lawyer Jan Wessels, who is representing Jarson, asked the court to reduce his bail amount to N$12 000. Sarel Maritz, representing Jansen, asked that his bail be reduced to N$10 000, while Ipinge’s lawyer, Marianne Petherbridge, suggested that his bail be lowered to N$15 000. Van Wyk, who is not legally represented, told the magistrate he could only afford to pay bail of N$10 000.Public Prosecutor Meriam Kenaruzo opposed the proposed reduction of the bail.