PG pleads for no interference, prejudice in GIPF DCP probe

PROSECUTOR General Martha Imalwa has charged that National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) secretary general Evilastus Kaaronda and other public workers’ representatives are ‘politicising’ the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) Development Capital Portfolio (DCP) saga.

Instead, said Imalwa, the union and Kaaronda should leave the matter to those entrusted by law to do so, and politics should be left to politicians. ‘If the workers would like to pursue the matter they should wait till my decision is out [to prosecute or not] and if not satisfied, they can start a private prosecution,’ said Imalwa yesterday. ‘Leave the criminal matter to the law enforcement agencies to investigate and the prosecution authority to decide the case based on the evidence available at the end of the day.’Kaaronda had expressed disappointment that the Police had not been involved in investigations into alleged wrongdoing in the matter from the start. He accused Government of delaying tactics when the Ministry of Safety and Security solicited the assistance of a South African company – reportedly Nexus Forensic Services – in the investigation which was already started by the Police last year in search of admissible evidence. The chairperson of the Public Service Workers’ Committee, Adeline Black, said workers would go on a national demonstration if the outcome of the last audit was not released to them. ‘I want this matter to be prosecuted properly,’ Imalwa emphasised. ‘We have to do our job as prosecutors without fear or favour.’ She added: ‘It is not just the union that feels the pain over the GIPF matter. I think all reasonable Namibians are in the same shoes.’She said despite two previous forensic audits – of 2006 and 2010 – there is still no evidence to indicate who should be charged. ‘The union should do its work properly rather than confusing the nation by making them to believe that we are here to fail the Namibian nation. The central government has taken its decision on the matter by referring the matter for criminal investigation. Therefore Government has nothing to do with the case any longer, especially the criminal matter,’ she said.Imalwa said her office will guide the Police where necessary in the criminal investigation, stressing that Government cannot direct the investigation at all. ‘That will amount to interference. Workers cannot be informed because they are not complainants in the case. They did not lay a complaint against anybody with the Police as far as I am aware. Therefore, if the workers’ leaders care about their members, they should approach their lawyers and advise them accordingly as to what they need to do on behalf of their members. If the union or its members have information that will assist the Police investigations, please approach the Inspector General [of the Police, Sebastian Ndeitunga].’ The GIPF last year placed an advertisement in the media requesting information relevant to the inquest, but Imalwa said no such information was forthcoming. Imalwa welcomed the ministry’s outsourcing of the forensic audit to an outside source, which she said would help the Police to keep a tight lid on the findings, which she said is crucial to secure robust evidence. She urged that the matter not be prejudiced, and denounced trial by media, pleading for the law to take its course.In a different vein, Imalwa said findings on the N$100 million lost by the Offshore Development Corporation (ODC) would be released in due course. Some of this money has reportedly been returned to Namibia. Similarly, her office has decided to prosecute in the Avid investment scandal, in which N$30 million belonging to the Social Security Commission was lost through risky investments. Regarding the N$3 million gone astray in the Namibia Defence Force arms deal, Imalwa said sufficient evidence has now been gathered, but acknowledged that it was a long drawn-out process because evidence had to come from other countries.