‘Progress’ on ODC millions: ACC

THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) says it has made “positive progress” in investigating what happened to the Offshore Development Corporation’s missing N$100 million.

This is reported in the State agency’s just-released first annual report. Further, the N$30 million Avid Investments scandal was now in the hands of the Prosecutor General, while the N$3 million that went missing in an arms procurement transaction between the Ministry of Defence and a British company was being “pursued in different countries through mutual legal assistance requests”.The report covers the period February 1 2006, when the ACC became operational, until March 31 2007.”With regard to the missing N$100 million of the Offshore Development Corporation (ODC) there has been positive progress; the bulk of the evidence [was] investigated in South Africa, thanks to Namfisa (the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority), who through their generous financial support made it possible to secure the services of forensic auditors to analyse the flow of monies from ODC to various entities,” ACC Director Paulus Noa states in the report.”As this investigation extended beyond our borders, Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana lodged a mutual legal assistance request with her counterpart in South Africa.Good progress has been made in bringing this matter to a closure,” Noa writes.In his general overview, Noa notes that the ACC received 686 complaints of suspected corruption during the first year of its existence.He also notes that the Namibian public had “unrealistically high expectations” about the ACC and had criticised it for only going after the ‘small fish’ and not investigating big corruption cases.The ACC has also received a number of reports of different presidential commissions of inquiry in order to study them and investigate, should the need arise.About 259 of the cases lodged were analysed and found to deserve no action by the ACC as appropriate action was already taken by other authorities, while 192 were not finalised and 145 reports were referred to other authorities to take action.Some 85 reports were investigated but closed “due to lack of sufficient evidence or because allegations contained appeared to be unfounded”, the report states.Further, the N$30 million Avid Investments scandal was now in the hands of the Prosecutor General, while the N$3 million that went missing in an arms procurement transaction between the Ministry of Defence and a British company was being “pursued in different countries through mutual legal assistance requests”.The report covers the period February 1 2006, when the ACC became operational, until March 31 2007. “With regard to the missing N$100 million of the Offshore Development Corporation (ODC) there has been positive progress; the bulk of the evidence [was] investigated in South Africa, thanks to Namfisa (the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority), who through their generous financial support made it possible to secure the services of forensic auditors to analyse the flow of monies from ODC to various entities,” ACC Director Paulus Noa states in the report.”As this investigation extended beyond our borders, Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana lodged a mutual legal assistance request with her counterpart in South Africa.Good progress has been made in bringing this matter to a closure,” Noa writes.In his general overview, Noa notes that the ACC received 686 complaints of suspected corruption during the first year of its existence.He also notes that the Namibian public had “unrealistically high expectations” about the ACC and had criticised it for only going after the ‘small fish’ and not investigating big corruption cases.The ACC has also received a number of reports of different presidential commissions of inquiry in order to study them and investigate, should the need arise.About 259 of the cases lodged were analysed and found to deserve no action by the ACC as appropriate action was already taken by other authorities, while 192 were not finalised and 145 reports were referred to other authorities to take action.Some 85 reports were investigated but closed “due to lack of sufficient evidence or because allegations contained appeared to be unfounded”, the report states.