As Namibia’s incumbent leader, Hage Geingob, hung on to a marginal victory in that country’s general elections held late last month, having witnessed a whittling away of his support from 87% in 2014 to 56.3%, the ruling Swapo government is sinking deeper into scandal.
This comes after a documentary, Anatomy of a Bribe, carefully dissected how two former ministers allegedly took part in a network of bribery, referred to as the “fish rot scandal”, involving that country’s fishing industry and several private sector consorts, including a Namibian representative of a well-known South African investment bank.
At the heart of the scandal, which is said to have played out over a period of about four years, former Namibia justice minister, Sacky Shanghala, and his counterpart at the department of fisheries, Bernhard Esau, used a company called Nangomar Pesca to embezzle funds, the documentary reveals.
Nangomar Pesca was established to receive fishing quotas intended for Angola, but kickbacks generated through the process reportedly totalled at least N$150 million (R150 million).
Of this, evidence has emerged that Shanghala has received N$4.5 million from a fishing concern that benefited from the quota programme.
The money is said to have been paid to Olea Investments, a company owned by Shanghala.
The South African connection, whose name is known to FTWOnline, is said to have pocketed N$9.9 million through a payment made to Otuafika Logistics, a company he apparently owns.
Shanghala has since been interviewed on television about his alleged complicity in the kickback network, but has denied any allegations.
He has, however, acknowledged that Olea Investments is his company.
In the meantime Namibia’s lucrative fisheries industry, known for its rich bounty and expert capacity, is reeling from the scandal that is getting scalier by the day.
– Eugene Goddard
