An investigation into alleged corruption by a director in the Ministry of Land Reform has been stopped because the whistle-blower is refusing to provide information to Anti-Corruption Commission investigators.
ACC director general Paulus Noa told The Namibian yesterday that an investigation was launched in July this year to look into allegations that director of land reform Petrus Nangolo was soliciting bribes from a contractor to process payments for work done.
The Namibian reported in July that the allegations led to the suspension of a N$500 million programme for communal land development (PCLD), funded by the German development bank KfW.
KfW's Piet Kleffmann, in a letter dated 22 June 2018, directed the ministry's permanent secretary, Peter Amutenya, to stop all payments from "our fund for the PCLD, and not to resume any award of contract to be financed by our funds until the issue has been clarified to our satisfaction".
The programme suspension came after a contractor, who requested anonymity, complained about delayed payments for work done, and claimed that corruption was at the centre of the scam.
"As soon as a suspicion of this severity is existent, it is our fiduciary duty to undertake specific measures in order to avoid any possible misuse of our funds," the KfW letter stated.
The Namibian has seen a letter from the contractor to Amutenya in November last year on the alleged corruption.
The contractor claimed that Nangolo had been asking him to pay a certain amount of money in order to process payments under the contract.
"The sin that I have committed here is that I declined his [Nangolo] request for money from our last payment in May 2017. I know I am not the first, and I will not be the last to complain about Mr Nangolo," the contractor's letter reads.
Noa yesterday, however, said the investigation had been stalled because of a lack of cooperation from the contractor, whom he said has been avoiding them.
"A case was registered shortly after the story was published, but no progress has been made because the person with the information has been dodging us, and has been changing his story. We tried to get into contact with the person about seven times so that he could provide us with the information to assist our investigation, but unfortunately he has been postponing our requests," he added.
Noa said the case has attracted the attention of senior government leaders who wanted to know what progress has been made, and whether any action has been taken against the implicated director.
"The person is an important witness in this matter, and our investigation cannot go ahead without evidence or a statement from him. Initially, he had agreed on a certain date to meet our investigators, but he never turned up, and sometimes the person completely ignores our calls," he explained, adding that the contractor has also denied claiming that Nangolo had asked for bribes from him.
"People need to understand that when they do not provide us with anything, there is no way our investigations will curb corruption. These are the people who give information to the media, but when we contact them to give us their statements for investigations, they completely ignore or dodge us, making things difficult when they were supposed to help," Noa added.
When contacted for comment yesterday, the contractor denied that Nangolo had asked for bribes from him, and that "I am not interested in that story".
The PCLD seeks to improve communal farmers' livelihoods through enhanced sustainable land management practices, improved livestock productivity, and market orientation.
The programme also helps communal farmers to secure land rights, infrastructure investments, and to access advisory services.
KfW and the European Union jointly contribute 84% of the funds for the project, while the Namibian government chips in with the 16% balance.
