Three Govt officials appear in court over water tank corruption in Omaheke

Three government officials appeared in the Gobabis Magistrate’s Court on Monday for allegedly distributing water tanks to the community through a corrupt practice.

The trio was arrested last Friday by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). They are from the directorate of rural water supply within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform in the Omaheke region.

They are Katjimune Lion, Tjaondo Festus, and Mbingana Albert.

In a statement released on Monday, ACC spokesperson Marina Matundu said investigations revealed that fraudulent requisitions were allegedly submitted to the Omaheke regional government stores under false pretenses for the collection of two 10 000-litre water tanks.

The tanks were intended for the communities of Orunarongwe Post in the Otjinene constituency and Otjijaura Post in the Epukiro constituency.

“The investigation established that the water tanks were removed from the government stores during November 2025, but were allegedly diverted for the personal benefit of the officials or other private individuals instead of being delivered to the intended beneficiary communities,” Matundu said.

She said the two water tanks have since been recovered and seized from private individuals and are being returned to the Omaheke regional government stores.

The three suspects were granted bail of N$10 000 each.

The matter was postponed to 25 March.

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