Namcor fraud accused Panduleni Hamukwaya fights for bail in Windhoek

“My children at the moment are living as refugees in their own house.

“There is no mother, no father. That is so difficult.”

These were the words of one of the accused charged in the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) fraud and corruption case, Panduleni Hamukwaya (51), after his bail hearing started in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura yesterday.

Hamukwaya became emotional while telling magistrate Jozanne Klazen about the situation in which his children are after both their parents were arrested on 8 July and kept in custody since then.

Hamukwaya related that he dropped his children off at their schools on the morning of 8 July. He has not seen them since then, after he and his wife, former Namcor finance executive Jennifer Hamukwaya, were both arrested that day, he said.

The children – five, 10 and 13 years old, respectively – have been in the care of the couple’s domestic worker since their arrest, Hamukwaya said.

He added that he has been informed the children have been badly affected by the arrest and sudden absence of their parents. Their performance at school has deteriorated, and the children are now receiving psychological counselling to help them deal with their current situation, he said.

Hamukwaya recounted that he spent most of his youth in refugee camps in Zambia and Angola, often in the absence of both his parents, after they had left Namibia with him as a baby before his first birthday.

He will not live as a refugee again or as a fugitive, he said.

“I’m innocent and I want to prove my innocence. I won’t abscond, and I want to stand my trial to prove my innocence,” he stated.

Hamukwaya is charged with two counts in terms of the Anti-Corruption Act, a count of money laundering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, and a charge of theft.

The state is alleging that between 27 May 2022 and 17 December 2022 Hamukwaya received N$1.55 million from the close corporation Quality Meat Supplies CC through his close corporation Panduleni Farming CC. It is also alleged that this money was obtained as gratification from an asset purchase agreement between Namcor and the fuel company Enercon Namibian and that Hamukwaya held the N$1.55 million for his own benefit or the benefit of his wife.

Hamukwaya’s bail application is scheduled to continue on 11 November.

He is being represented by defence lawyer Slysken Makando, instructed by Kalundu Kamwi.

Public prosecutor Menencia Hinda is representing the state, which is opposing Hamukwaya’s application to be granted bail.

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