Fishy Investec business

NAMIBIA: MINISTERS ALLEGEDLY AWARD DODGY QUOTAS TO ICELAND

Former minister Sakeus Shanghala and Investec’s former Namibia chief James Hatuikulipi arrested.

Namibia has arrested its former justice minister on suspicion of receiving kickbacks from Iceland’s biggest fishing firm in a scandal that has cast a shadow over the ruling party as it faced its toughest challenge to date in an election yesterday.

Anti-Corruption Commission director-general Paulus Noa confirmed that former minister Sakeus Shanghala and Investec Asset Management’s former Namibia chief, James Hatuikulipi, had been arrested. He declined further comment.

The arrests follow the detention of the former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau and another former Investec employee on Saturday on the same charges. Both were released after a judge said the arrest warrants were invalid.

The fishing scandal involves allegations the former ministers, who both quit this month, had taken bribes in return for awarding horse mackerel quotas to Iceland’s Samherji.

Samherji has hired a law firm to investigate the allegations. Esau has denied any wrongdoing. Reuters has not been able to reach Shanghala, Hatuikulipi or Ricardo Gustavo, the other former Investec employee accused, for comment. Investec said last week Gustavo and Hatuikulipi had left the bank and that it had no connection to the case. It said its former employees had not used their Investec positions to facilitate the alleged scheme. – Reuters