AN official of the Otjiwarongo municipality was arrested for corruption after she allegedly sold a plot, which was allocated to her by the council.

According to information obtained by The Namibian, the official - who cannot be named pending her court appearance - sold the plot to Otjozondjupa governor Otto Iipinge.

The director general of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Paulus Noa, said he is, however, not aware of the case.

A document seen by The Namibian shows that in September 2016, the Otjiwarongo municipality approved a system to empower staff members through land.

"The proposal was prompted by the backlog in housing, especially among the employees, due to the fact that some of them could not purchase plots or build houses through bank-assisted home loans due to blacklisting and age," stated the document.

The charged official is one of the few who benefited from the "staff housing scheme" after being allocated a plot worth N$230 000.

According to the same document, the conditions of selling the land included that the plot could not be sold before full payment was made.

"Ministerial approval is to be acquired whenever such a transaction occurs," the document stated.

The accused reportedly never paid a cent for the plot, but proceeded to sell it to the governor while it was still owned by the municipality.

As such, Iipinge effectively benefited from the scheme meant for council staff who cannot afford to buy houses on the market, official correspondence shows.

This was interpreted as corruption by the ACC, which was at the forefront of charging the official, who allegedly pocketed money from the transaction.

ACC spokesperson Josefina Nghituwamata told The Namibian yesterday that she will respond to the matter today after consulting fellow officials.

When asked for comment, Iipinge denied being aware of the purchase, nor the council transaction.