Mulunga denies N$3.2m ‘car bribe’ claim

Former National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) managing director Imms Mulunga is denying that he received a car worth N$3.2 million as a bribe from fugitive fuel firm owner Victor Malima.

With the state alleging that Mulunga corruptly received an Audi Q8 vehicle as gratification from Malima in August 2022, Mulunga yesterday testified during a bail hearing in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court that he does not own such a car and also was not given such a vehicle.

“I do not possess that vehicle,” he said. “I was not offered that vehicle.”

The state is alleging that Mulunga corruptly accepted an Audi Q8, valued at about N$3.2 million, from Malima as a reward for facilitating the purchase of nine service stations by Namcor from the company Enercon Namibia and facilitating the supply of fuel to Enercon and the close corporation Erongo Petroleum without payment.

“There was no such incident that happened,” Mulunga said when his defence lawyer, Francois Bangamwabo, asked him for his take on the charge.

Mulunga said when an asset purchase agreement between Enercon and the Namcor subsidiary, Namcor Petroleum Trading and Distribution, was concluded in July 2022, he was not acting as an agent of the state-owned Namcor, the mother company of Namcor Trading and Distribution, but was acting as managing director of the Namcor subsidiary.

Mulunga added that it was “ludicrous” to allege that as managing director of Namcor Trading and Distribution he was directly involved in the supply of fuel to Namcor customers.

During his tenure as managing director of Namcor and also of Namcor Trading and Distribution, he did not play a direct role anywhere in the supply of fuel to Namcor customers, as there was a team of Namcor employees whose duties included the supply of fuel to customers, Mulunga said.

Questioned about another charge, in which he is accused of money laundering by entering into an agreement with Malima for the purchase of an Audi Q8 while he knew or reasonably ought to have known that the vehicle formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activities, Mulunga responded: “Absolutely not. Not at all, not at all.”

The seven charges Mulunga is currently facing, following his arrest two weeks ago in connection with alleged corruption and fraud at Namcor, include a count of fraud in which the state is alleging that he defrauded Namcor and caused the state-owned company to lose N$347 million.

The state is also alleging that Mulunga defrauded Namcor by pretending that he had the authority to enter into fuel supply agreements with Enercon and the close corporations Erongo Petroleum and Eco Trading, after which Namcor supplied fuel to the three entities without being paid for the fuel.

As managing director of Namcor and its subsidiary Namcor Trading and Distribution, he had the authority to enter into agreements on behalf of Namcor, Mulunga said in response to that charge.

On another fraud charge, in which the state is alleging that Mulunga defrauded Namcor with the transaction in which the company bought nine service stations at Namibian Defence Force bases from Enercon for N$53.3 million in July 2022, Mulunga said the charge “doesn’t make sense” and is factually incorrect.

“We didn’t buy nine service stations,” Mulunga said.

What was bought by Namcor was “bulk fuel storage facilities”, which could also be called the assets of Enercon, he said.

Echoing testimony previously given by businessmen brothers Peter and Malakia Elindi, who were shareholders and directors of Enercon at the time of the service station transaction, Mulunga also said: “We purchased rights, titles and interests in and to those assets.”

That meant those assets belonged to Namcor from the date he signed the purchase agreement – but at the same time Namcor could not physically take possession or delivery of the assets, because they were situated at bases of the NDF, he said.

Mulunga is expected to return to the witness stand when the bail hearing continues today.

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