Namibia: Nuctech-related Court Hearings Postponed until January

Two defendents in a Namibian corruption case are challenging key parts of Namibia’s Anti-Corruption Act of 2003 and the Prevention of Organised Crime Act of 2004 for doubts in their constitutionality, The Namibian reported in March. The legality of the appointment of senior Cabinet member Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana as both Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in 2005 was reportedly also questioned by the two defendents.

Apparently on Monday, High Court Judge President Petrus Damaseb postponed further hearings of the two defendents, Teckla Lameck and Kongo Mokaxwa, and of a third defendent in the same case, Yang Fan, a former representative of Chinese company Nuctech, until January 19, 2012.

Three High Court judges will hear the constitutional challenges on November 29 this year, the Republikein reported on Monday.

The three defendents are free on bail, according to the Namibian’s report of March.

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Related

Older Related Posts, since July 2009 »
Nuctech: Investigations in EU and Namibia, July 20, 2009

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Related External Link(s)

» The Namibian who will oversee Fifa’s Ethics Hearing, BBC, May 25, 2011

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Namibia: Vision 2030

Jia Qinglin (贾庆林), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), arrived in Windhoek on Thursday for an official visit, at the invitation of the National Council of Namibia, the upper house of parliament. The National Council is constituted by delegates from the country’s regional councils, and the ruling SWAPO currently holds 24 out of 26 seats there. Jia said the China-Namibia relationship had developed smoothly since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1990, hailing frequent high-level exchanges and fruitful cooperation in politics, trade, culture, education and public health, reports Xinhua.

The Namibian writes that the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) had called on the government to ban “piecemeal type” foreign investors who don’t create jobs or boost economic growth, but rather “kill” existing local businesses. And Tjekero Tweya, the country’s newly appointed deputy trade and industry minister, suggested that as a country with developed technology, China should explore and invest (with local participation) in breaking new frontiers rather than bringing in skills and technology that already exists in Namibia.

Trade and industry minister Hage Geingob announced new provisions for the country’s Foreign Investment act. He intended to exclude foreign investment from certain small and medium enterprise (SME) sectors. Much of his concern had been sparked by the “activities of Chinese businesspersons”, according to the Namibian.

“As a ‘true friend’ of Namibia, we expect China to assist (through cooperation) us to develop the industrialisation vision of Namibia as stated in Vision 2030 instead of importing unskilled labour and resources which already exist in Namibia,” added Tweya.

The road of Namibia’s relations with China is bumpier than Jia Qinglin’s pre-visit statement might suggest. Namibia’s finance minister announced in summer last year that his country would no longer make use of a US-$ 100 mn export buyers credit provided by the Export-Import Bank of China (ExIm). Also in July 2009, Namibia launched an investigation into allegations of bribery in a government contract with Chinese state-owned Nuctech Company Ltd. According to a New York Times article on the dark side of China aid, the investigation is still in progress.

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Related
Africa, where the Worlds meet, March 8, 2010
Quote: Makuwerere Bwititi, January 15, 2010
Old Comrades never cheat, August 27, 2009

Nuctech Namibia: Defense questions Asset Freeze

The three defendants in the Nuctech corruption probe are free on bail, but their assets have remained frozen. Counsellors Gauntlett, Heathcote and Muller are focusing on the question whether an interim assets restraint order that was given by the Judge President on July 6 should now be made a final order, or if it should be lifted, with the effect that the frozen assets would be returned to the control of Lameck, Mokaxwa, Yang and other parties cited in the case (article by Werner Menges of The Namibian, published online by Britain-based The Zimbabwean). There was no evidence before the court of an offence allegedly committed, except for a claim that Lameck contravened the Public Service Commission Act by not getting the President’s consent for her to do other paid work outside her job as a Public Service Commissioner, Gauntlett said.

According to Windhoek’s Allgemeine Zeitung, Gauntlett argued that Prosecutor Nelius Becker‘s facts hadn’t been complete and that he had failed to inform Lameck that her assets were frozen. There was also no sufficient evidence of corruption. Judge President Petrus Damaseb reportedly replied that as a Public Service Commissioner, Lameck had not been entitled to hold jobs outside the commission. This was, after all, corruption.

The prosecution is scheduled to make a statement today.

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Related:
Investigations in EU and Namibia, July 20, 2009
“Defendants bought two Farms”, July 31, 2009

Namibia: Old Comrades Never Cheat

Namibia should insist on conditions that benefit its development agenda when dealing with partners such as China, permanent finance secretary Calle Schlettwein said on the Southern Africa 2020 Vision Conference in Windhoek. Schlettwein said thatif the scanner transaction between the Namibian government and the Chinese company Nuctech had been subject to tender, the current alleged corruption case could have been avoided. First National Bank of Namibia Group‘s chief executive officer Vekuii Rukoro supported Schlettwein’s position, suggesting that Namibians should “shake off” their  naivety in our dealings with our former benefactors during the liberation struggle. According to Rukoro, “this naivety is based “on the fact that we were comrades and allies forever and these guys will never seek to pursue their narrow national interest at the cost of our won national interest”.

In 2007, Beijing had inisted on tender exemption in return for a “soft loan”, writes The Namibian.

In an interview on Radio Australia on August 14, Tangeni Amupadhi of Insight Namibia explained the links  between Namibia’s ruling party SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organisation) and China’s CCP.

Apparently on August 19, China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs Zhai Jun, told a group of African reporters in Beijing that corruption was rife not only in Africa but around the world, and that

“as China’s reform opens up we have more private businesses in Africa. We must educate them to engage in friendly ties and to respect the local laws.“

Given the CCP’s record of fighting against corruption at home so far, Namibia probably shouldn’t hold its breath.

Namibia Graft Probe: “Defendants bought two Farms”

In absence of his clients, Teckla Lameck, her business partner and fellow member of Teko Trading CC, Kongo Mokaxwa, and Chinese national Yang Fan, defense lawyer Sisa Namandje asked for postponing a hearing for releasing the defendants on bail a week ago. All property of the defendants is currently confiscated, and there is therefore no money at the disposal of the accused for depositing bailment. The Prosecutor General asked the High Court on July 6 to issue a restraint order over an array of assets connected to the defendants, and judge president Petrus Damaseb granted the order. Defendents referred to the restraint order application as demented.

An investigator with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Nelius Becker, told the court on Friday last week that 55 million US-$ were paid for the equipment bought from Nuctech. The Namibian ministry of finance paid more 12 mn of it, while the Chinese government provided a loan of 42 mn US-$. Teckla Lameck’s and Kongo Mokaxwa’s Teko Trading CC allegedly acted as a go-between without knowledge of the ministry of finance which transferred the 12 mn US-$ to Nuctech as agreed – 4.2 mn of which Nuctech then transferred to a Teko Trading account, Namibia’s Allgemeine Zeitung wrote on July 23. According to the ACC’s investigator Becker as quoted by the paper, these 4.2 mn US-$ were shared between the three defendants who then started “a wild shopping orgy”, buying two farms, several vehicles and other possessions. Investigations were continuing, Becker announced.

General prosecutor Martha Imalwa was reportedly in Beijing recently to ask Hu Haifeng, Nuctech’s president until last year, to testify as a witness – not as a defendant – in the trial. Imalwa wasn’t available for comments, as she was on sick-leave, according to the Allgemeine Zeitung‘s report of last week.

Namibia: No Free Lunch

The Export-Import Bank of China’s (EXIM) terms of credit were unfavorable, Calle Schlettwein, permanent secretary in Namibia’s Ministry of Finance said on July 20 [Update: link]. So was the China National Machinery & Equipment Import and Export Company’s quotation for the installation of a railway link to Oshikango, an Angolan border town, reports South Africa’s Mail & Guardian Online. The $ 100 million credit line which was suspended by the Ministry of Finance late last year had been offered by China’s state chairman Hu Jintao during his visit to Namibia early last year, reports the South African paper. The three suspects held in connection with the alleged Nuctech bribes were to appear in Windhoek Magistrate’s Court to apply for bail has been postponed to Tuesday by their lawyer, Sisa Namandje. Namibian prosecutor-general Martha Imalwa was in China some time ago to discuss the Nuctech case and another, so far unknown case with Beijing officials.

Critics of African-Chinese relations sometimes accuse China to happily support repressive African regimes. But when it comes to graft probes, there are apparently governments in Africa who are willing to carry out genuine probes.

China hosted a Sino-African summit attended by 50 African leaders in November 2006. But one of them, then South African president Thabo Mbeki, warned that Africa could get into a colonial relationship with China. “If Africa continues to just export raw materials to China while importing Chinese manufactured goods, the African continent could be condemned to underdevelopment”, similar to its historical relationship with its former colonial powers, Mbeki told a student congress in Cape Town soon after the summit, according to The Namibian. The Namibian also quoted an EU diplomat stationed in Namibia who commented on China’s announcement that “no strings were attached” to Chinese development aid. “There is no free lunch”, the unnamed diplomat told the paper.

There may be a mix of motivations for the current investigations. Mere power struggles within Namibia, or a mere desire for good governance. That plus an evolving new development strategy – an unfriendlier label might be protectionism (no trade block or big economic power, may it be America, the EU, or China, has proven itself immune against it after the beginning of the global financial crisis). Maybe Thabo Mbeki’s warnings, with some delay, arereaching a more receptive audience these days. China gives African countries a great opportunity to play a Chinese card in negotiations with the fully industrialized nations. If the African people benefit from that altogether, African relations with China may turn out to be very useful.

That of course is no small “if”.

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Related: China in Africa, Hearts and Minds, Febr 13

Namibia Nuctech Graft Investigation

Correct me if I’m wrong… But so far, all we know is that Yang Fan and two Namibians, Teckla Lameck and Jerobeam Mokaxwa, were arrested after Namibia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) discovered that a US$12.8 million down payment on 13 scanners had been diverted to a firm called Teko Trading.

Correct?

The Namibian: China Loans Suspended

The Export-Import Bank of China (Exim) is the main financer of the controversial multi-million dollar scanner deal between Nuctech and Namibia. The Namibian reports that Namibia will no longer make use of the US$100 million in preferential export buyers credit Exim has been offering. Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance Calle Schlettwein said the terms of a US-$ 100 million credit line were unfavorable and it had been suspended by Namibia’s government late last year. The scanner deal which is now under investigation is not affected by this decision, according to the report.

Three suspects, Teckla Lameck (a Public Service Commissioner), Kongo Mokaxwa, and Yang Fan (a Chinese national)  are currently under arrest, reports The Namibian. Its report also contains some details of the scope of the Exim Bank, and the backgrounds and history of the current investigation.