On The Corruption Technocrats

IF you steal a cow in Namibia, you have to either walk it away, or kill it and carry it away, or put it on a bakkie and drive it away.

What if you steal millions of dollars, or even a few hundred thousand? Do you put all the money in a sack, wait until dark and then carry it home and bury it? No. You get some partners, lawyers and bankers.Without the help of lawyers and bankers, corrupt officials, NGO directors and third-party contractors, accountants and auditors would not be able to steal the Namibian people’s money.Think about it… If you open a bank account, or take out a loan, or use an overdraft, or move any assets from one country to another, you need the direct authorised assistance of Namibian banking and legislative regulations.Period.And when you sit down with a lawyer or a banker to discuss what you want to do, you know that ALL your discussions are legally privileged.An ordinary government employee has the right, and under the new government, is actually encouraged, to blow the whistle, to report what could be illegal or detrimental acts of his or her Ministry against the interests of Namibia.But if a special somebody, say a governmental official or union official, wants to know how to hide from the law some transfer of money, from one account to another to another to another and then to another country and another country, how does he or she know how to do that? Simple: the privileged, old, out of date rights and regulations of the same system that provided the wiring and plumbing for apartheid administrations and the puppet management of second-tier authorities: the Namibian banking system and the Namibian-South African Roman-Dutch law precedents and procedures.The Namibian government from Independence till now did nothing to change this—either legally or policy-wise.After all, many of them were offered sweet incentives from the banks themselves.The privileged customers of the law firms and the banks just changed colour, that’s all.The protective secrecy – and the banks’ and lawyers’ handsome profit for helping large transactions take place quietly and without notice – these have stayed the same.Just ask this simple question: How could so many millions of Namibian money, the people’s money, move so quickly and without any trace of its path when ordinary private citizens can get caught and punished for bouncing a cheque? Go ahead, ask the question! Only ONE answer: people in the Namibian banking system and Namibian accredited lawyers who catch and punish the little thieves simply erase the spoor of the big official thieves, and say they know nothing about how such things take place.Of course, their nice cut of cash goes into their bank accounts.They are Namibia’s “corruption technocrats”.And they seem to remain immune from Namibian leaders, who until 1989 used to be serious, clenched-fist revolutionaries, people’s advocates.When will Namibian justice take over the legal process, hold them just as accountable to the people and transparent in their activities as the government officials themselves now must be? And when will there be a law that will hold a bank guilty as accessory to theft from the Namibian public? This is a matter for fearless and quick legislative action from Parliament.Otherwise the old “he-said-she-said” blah blah blah of outdated court processes will make it safe for thieves to rob the public, with the legal assistance of Namibian lawyers and bankers.Jack Lambert Via e-mailYou get some partners, lawyers and bankers.Without the help of lawyers and bankers, corrupt officials, NGO directors and third-party contractors, accountants and auditors would not be able to steal the Namibian people’s money.Think about it… If you open a bank account, or take out a loan, or use an overdraft, or move any assets from one country to another, you need the direct authorised assistance of Namibian banking and legislative regulations.Period.And when you sit down with a lawyer or a banker to discuss what you want to do, you know that ALL your discussions are legally privileged.An ordinary government employee has the right, and under the new government, is actually encouraged, to blow the whistle, to report what could be illegal or detrimental acts of his or her Ministry against the interests of Namibia.But if a special somebody, say a governmental official or union official, wants to know how to hide from the law some transfer of money, from one account to another to another to another and then to another country and another country, how does he or she know how to do that? Simple: the privileged, old, out of date rights and regulations of the same system that provided the wiring and plumbing for apartheid administrations and the puppet management of second-tier authorities: the Namibian banking system and the Namibian-South African Roman-Dutch law precedents and procedures.The Namibian government from Independence till now did nothing to change this—either legally or policy-wise.After all, many of them were offered sweet incentives from the banks themselves.The privileged customers of the law firms and the banks just changed colour, that’s all.The protective secrecy – and the banks’ and lawyers’ handsome profit for helping large transactions take place quietly and without notice – these have stayed the same.Just ask this simple question: How could so many millions of Namibian money, the people’s money, move so quickly and without any trace of its path when ordinary private citizens can get caught and punished for bouncing a cheque? Go ahead, ask the question! Only ONE answer: people in the Namibian banking system and Namibian accredited lawyers who catch and punish the little thieves simply erase the spoor of the big official thieves, and say they know nothing about how such things take place.Of course, their nice cut of cash goes into their bank accounts.They are Namibia’s “corruption technocrats”.And they seem to remain immune from Namibian leaders, who until 1989 used to be serious, clenched-fist revolutionaries, people’s advocates.When will Namibian justice take over the legal process, hold them just as accountable to the people and transparent in their activities as the government officials themselves now must be? And when will there be a law that will hold a bank guilty as accessory to theft from the Namibian public? This is a matter for fearless and quick legislative action from Parliament.Otherwise the old “he-said-she-said” blah blah blah of outdated court processes will make it safe for thieves to rob the public, with the legal assistance of Namibian lawyers and bankers.Jack Lambert Via e-mail