ACC is becoming its own worst enemy

THE Anti-Corruption Commission of Namibia is fast becoming its own worst enemy.

The Commission without commissioners is losing high-profile cases on the grandest scale – conditions that cement the propensity for failure of a statutory body created by an Act of Parliament with the mission “to fight corruption in Namibia through effective law enforcement and preventative measures in a professional manner for the good of society”.

I won’t even bother to refer to its vision which states that the ACC wants “to be a world-class Anti-Corruption Commission”!
There is nothing wrong with striving to become a world-class institution but it can’t be rolled into one with sloppy work and bad organisation.
Last week High Court Judge Marlene Tommasi ordered the ACC to return all items seized from Permanent Secretary of Works and Transport George Simataa’s office and his home in Windhoek. These included computers and documents used in an investigation into Simataa’s alleged appointment of a Zimbabwean academic as a management training consultant for the Ministry.
Tommasi declared that the two search warrants that ACC investigators had obtained from Windhoek Magistrate Duard Kesslau on March 1 and 10 were invalid and unlawful.
In the process she set aside any actions taken by the ACC while using the two warrants and told the Commission to cough up for Simataa’s legal costs.
From court documents presented by Simataa’s lawyer, Sisa Namandje, it seems the ACC acted on a story published in a weekly tabloid, but basics, like the heading of the search warrant, were not cross-checked and cost them the case.
The ACC should have known that a search warrant, for instance, should be addressed to a specific officer instead of a general ‘to all authorised officers’ which can be open to abuse!
I have no problem with the ACC acting on media reports, but when sloppiness due to overzealousness creeps in, it drags down the significance of an organisation which is supposed to be one of the brightest stars in our firmament as a country.
Namandje is the same lawyer who took on the ACC, instructed by National Housing Enterprise chief executive officer Vinson Hailulu, and won some of the bouts on technicalities in another drawn-out case.
An additional case which comes to mind is that of Hardap Governor Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, who was acquitted last year on two charges of corruption after Namandje pointed out that the alleged offences were committed a year before the Anti-Corruption Act was enacted in 2005.
Namibia and the world (especially China) are watching the Teko case unfold with an eagle’s eye.
In this one, three suspects – Public Service Commissioner Teckla Lameck, her business partner, Kongo Mokaxwa, and Chinese national Yang Fan – are charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar deal for the provision of Chinese-made X-ray scanning equipment to the Ministry of Finance that has earned them a ‘commission’ of over N$42 million.
Namandje is in the mix again representing the trio. He pointed out that material evidence had not been disclosed to the court when a request was made for the assets restraint order.
The court was also informed that Lameck had written a letter to President Hifikepunye Pohamba in December 2008 to declare her outside business interests – including her involvement in Teko Trading. The letter was never presented to the court by the ACC or State House and thus the High Court found the non-disclosure as misleading the court and unfair to Lameck.
That was one of the main reasons why the Teko trio got their assets back – on a technicality.
The laxity with which such investigations are conducted is tarnishing the image of the ACC as well as those publicly investigated have their reputation sullied. ACC officials are seen visiting or calling in suspects but no public announcements are made to correct perceptions when nothing is found against the suspects.
The ACC needs to remember that they are more than just another criminal investigation unit. They are an organisation whose standing in society, as well as its support and legitimacy, must be beyond question.
They should be seen to be acting in what is in the best and long-term interests of Namibia, not just running around like headless chickens.
This is a symptom of what has happened at the ACC since it started operations.
With ACC director Paulus Noa’s term coming to an end later this year, he needs to realise that the biggest threat to the Commission’s success is weakness from within.