‘Why Martha Imalwa’ – PG responds to critics

PROSECUTOR general Martha Imalwa has rubbished claims that she has been sitting on cases and failing to prosecute major corruption cases in the country, daring anyone with proof of these claims to come forward.

Imalwa made these remarks at a media briefing held in Windhoek today, where she stated that she has not been sitting on major cases as perceived by the public, and stressed to challenge those claiming that she was not performing to provide proof.

“Is it because I am a woman? Is it because I came from an unknown family or is it because of what? I am from a subsistence farmer, my father, my mother is a house wife. I need somebody to tell me why Olivia Martha Imalwa? Am I not performing? If I am not performing, where am I not performing?” Imalwa asked.

The prosecutor general also defended herself, saying she was not incompetent as widely perceived.

If she was incompetent or underperforming, Imalwa said people should have questioned her on why “you did not do a, b, c and d, apart from the unfounded allegations against me”.

Imalwa said people have a “personal vendetta” against her. This she said, was a big problem in Namibia, “that is not building us”.

“I have kept dockets in my office for ten years, and evidence is there to prove. No docket even stayed here for more than a year,” she said.

She also dismissed allegations that her political affiliation to the ruling Swapo party does not have an impact on her decision-making about what case to prosecute or not at her office.

“I don’t sit in Swapo meetings,” she said.

Imalwa served as the prosecutor general since January 2004. She is Namibia’s second prosecutor general after succeeding the late Hans Heyman, who served from March 1990 until the end of November 2002.

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