PG to decide on Kandara case by month-end

THE Police docket on the investigation into the death of Lazarus Kandara has been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor General.

A decision on how the matter will be pursued is expected before the end of this month, Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa said on enquiry yesterday. Kandara, who was the creator and self-appointed Chief Executive Officer of Avid Investment Corporation – an asset management company that he started last year and with which the Social Security Commission invested N$30 million in January – died outside the Windhoek Police Station from a gunshot wound to the chest on the evening of August 24.The Police claim that he shot himself with a 9 mm pistol that was registered in his name.According to the Police, Kandara appears to have managed to get hold of the firearm when he was allowed, under Police escort, to collect clothes, medicine and toiletries at his home in Windhoek after his arrest on charges of fraud and theft earlier that evening.Kandara was arrested after he testified in the High Court during a Companies Act inquiry on the SSC’s investment of the N$30 million with Avid, which failed to repay the money to the SSC when the four-month-long investment matured at the end of May.The court has since then ordered that Avid be liquidated in an effort to recover the SSC’s money.Imalwa said yesterday that the Police docket on the circumstances of Kandara’s death had first been submitted to one of her deputies, who sent it back to the Police for further investigations.The docket has now been returned to her office, where it is being studied.A decision on the steps to be taken will be made before the end of November, she said.Among the matters to be considered is whether there is evidence indicating that anyone could be held responsible for Kandara’s death, or, if the evidence indicates that he committed suicide, whether an inquest into his death would be held in open court or not, Imalwa said.If there is evidence that Kandara committed suicide, a Magistrate will be asked to hold an inquest, she said.Such proceedings can either take place with the Magistrate going through written statements setting out the evidence that the Police gathered during their investigation of the death, or in open court, with the Magistrate hearing oral evidence on the matter.In each instance, the Magistrate will be required to make a finding on the cause of death and whether anyone could be held liable.Kandara, who was the creator and self-appointed Chief Executive Officer of Avid Investment Corporation – an asset management company that he started last year and with which the Social Security Commission invested N$30 million in January – died outside the Windhoek Police Station from a gunshot wound to the chest on the evening of August 24.The Police claim that he shot himself with a 9 mm pistol that was registered in his name.According to the Police, Kandara appears to have managed to get hold of the firearm when he was allowed, under Police escort, to collect clothes, medicine and toiletries at his home in Windhoek after his arrest on charges of fraud and theft earlier that evening. Kandara was arrested after he testified in the High Court during a Companies Act inquiry on the SSC’s investment of the N$30 million with Avid, which failed to repay the money to the SSC when the four-month-long investment matured at the end of May.The court has since then ordered that Avid be liquidated in an effort to recover the SSC’s money.Imalwa said yesterday that the Police docket on the circumstances of Kandara’s death had first been submitted to one of her deputies, who sent it back to the Police for further investigations.The docket has now been returned to her office, where it is being studied.A decision on the steps to be taken will be made before the end of November, she said.Among the matters to be considered is whether there is evidence indicating that anyone could be held responsible for Kandara’s death, or, if the evidence indicates that he committed suicide, whether an inquest into his death would be held in open court or not, Imalwa said.If there is evidence that Kandara committed suicide, a Magistrate will be asked to hold an inquest, she said.Such proceedings can either take place with the Magistrate going through written statements setting out the evidence that the Police gathered during their investigation of the death, or in open court, with the Magistrate hearing oral evidence on the matter.In each instance, the Magistrate will be required to make a finding on the cause of death and whether anyone could be held liable.