Geingob says corruption has tainted Namibia
The President, HE Dr Hage Geingob said the actions of a few corrupt officials has tainted the name of the country, and now serves as a wake-up call for the government to redouble efforts to combat the practises.
Speaking at the occasion of the last Cabinet meeting in Windhoek, the Geingob said during his town hall meetings earlier this year, the issue of corruption was only raised twice, and based on this reasoning, the president said “corruption is not systemic in Namibia, but perceptions have been created that Namibia is a corrupt society.”
Geingob was seemingly making reference to the international corruption scandal in the fishing industry involving two of his former cabinet ministers, former Justice Minister, Sacky Shanghala and former Marine and Fisheries Minister, Bernhard Esau.
Stating that this serves as wake-up call for his government, Geingob added it is now important for public service officials to emphasize that corruption in any form, for example, kickbacks, or percentage commission for the amount of contracts, is unacceptable.
“We are aware of the current corruption storm in the fishing sector which has coincided with the build up to the Presidential and National Assembly Elections. We have seen the anger of the people, especially those who have had their livelihoods destroyed as a result of corrupt practices. Anybody would be angry and this has been a wakeup call for us to re-double our efforts to promote greater accountability and transparency across all sectors of government,” Geingob said.
Noting that the two ministers involved in the infamous fishing sector corruption case are no longer ministers, Geingob said proper investigations will take place which will see the ministers tried under due process of the law.
“While on this matter, I would also like to state that it is pertinent that we must work on a law which will clearly define election donations and campaign contributions to political parties in order to eliminate the grey area in which we currently operate,” Geingob stressed.
