Namibia: Govt Struggles to Net Fishrot Assets Abroad As Legal Hurdles and Bank Delays Stall Progress  allAfrica.com

Hertta-Maria Amutenja  Calls for an international anti-corruption court have grown stronger, with advocates pointing to the Fishrot scandal as a clear example of why such a court is needed to handle large-scale corruption across borders. Frederico Links’ report, A Perfect Case for an International Court, published in this year’s international edition of Good Governance Africa, highlights the limits of national courts in dealing with corruption that spans several countries. “The Fishrot case illustrates the limitations of national courts in prosecuting corruption involving multiple jurisdictions,” said Graham Hopwood, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).  He added that a case at the International Anti-Corruption Court (IACCourt) could raise the global profile of the Fishrot scandal and make sure all those responsible are held accountable, whether they are in Namibia, Iceland, or other countries that helped move illicit funds. Hopwood pointed to delays in investigations in Iceland, postponed trials in Namibia, and stalled extradition requests as evidence that domestic legal systems struggle to handle complex, large-scale corruption.  “Many of those who played a role in other jurisdictions will simply never be charged,” he said. Co-founder of the Botswana Centre for Public Integrity and coordinator of the IACCourt Africa sub-committee, Pusetso Morapedi, described the Fishrot scandal as an ideal case for the proposed court.  She noted that while Namibia plans to prosecute 10 individuals, Iceland has yet to make a single arrest.  Morapedi said national courts lack the jurisdiction needed to fully address corruption involving multiple countries. The Fishrot case, widely considered Namibia’s biggest corruption scandal, first came to light in November 2019, just weeks before the country’s general elections. The case has been in court for nearly five years. Evidence shows that between 2012 and 2019, former ministers Bernhard Esau and Sacky Shanghala, under the administration of then-president Hage Geingob, manipulated laws and regulations to allow the fishing company Samherji to enter Namibia’s horse mackerel sector.  This happened at the expense of local fishing businesses, which collapsed, causing job losses and the closure of processing plants. In response, the government launched the Government Employment Redress Programme (GERP) in 2020 to help more than 2 000 fishermen affected by the scandal. In February this year, about 60 former fishermen gathered at Kuisebmond Park in Walvis Bay to express their frustration.  They claimed GERP had failed to provide meaningful jobs and that some people had used the program for personal gain. “Even though people don’t want us to speak the truth, this is the time that each and every Namibian has to hear what we have observed,” said Immanuel Petrus, chairperson of the affected fishermen. Two studies by the IPPR in 2023 and 2024 assessed the impact of Fishrot.  They found long-term economic and psychological harm, with many former fisheries workers pushed into poverty.  The studies also indicated that entire communities, especially in Walvis Bay, remain unstable economically. “The fishing industry was the one that brought life to this community. I can see what Fishrot did to Walvis Bay,” said Walvis Bay mayor Trevino Forbes during the launch of the IPPR’s first study. The High Court trial for those accused in the Fishrot case is set to begin on 4 August.  The case will be overseen by Judge Moses Chinhengo, a Zimbabwean judge seconded to Namibia.

C’est à ce jour le plus grand scandale de corruption internationale dans le secteur de la pêche.

The artist was seeking to retain ownership of a website he created which highlighted alleged bribery and corruption by Samherji hf

[Namibian] FOUR of the individuals charged in the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering case are due to hear by early February next year if they have had success with an attempt to stop the prosecutor general from continuing to prosecute them.

This is the second human rights report looking at the impact of the Fishrot scandal on the lives of fisheries workers. “Right Now I Cannot Survive” highlights the continued struggles faced by those de...

Künstler Odee hat den Rechtsstreit gegen den Fischereikonzern Samherji verloren. Odee hatte anstelle Samherjis "We´re sorry" verkündet

Staff Reporter BUSINESSMAN James Hatuikulipi has brought forth an urgent application to overturn a judgment which led to the auctioning of his Finkenstein property. Hatuikulipi and several others were arrested in 2019 in relation to the “Fishrot” scandal, standing trial in connection with an alleged racketeering, corruption and money-laundering scheme involving at least N$300 million. They are accused of accepting bribes from the Icelandic fishing company Samherji in exchange for lucrative horse mackerel quotas. In the current application lodged in August 2026, Hatuikulipi claims that he has stumbled upon new facts detailing documents that showed that invoices were paid to settle levies on his Finkenstein property, and that despite this, his property was auctioned. Hatuikulipi, in his application, referenced several payments from June to September 2026 made on his behalf to clear the account by a business partner. “Yet what exacerbates the entire situation is that even when arrangements were presented to settle the account, the legal representatives of Finkenstein Homeowners Association chose, whether intentionally or through some inadvertence, to not honour the commitment they made and take my business partner up on the commitment he made. Instead, they went on to take steps to make the dispossession of property more likely than. To me, this is simply reprehensible,” Hatuikulipi claimed. In response, Hellmut Gottlob von Ludwiger, the Chairperson of the Finkenstein Homeowners Association, said that it is too late as the property has already been auctioned off. “In the main case…the Finkenstein Homeowners Association issued summons against the defendant Hatuikulpi and/or ‘Sinco Investments 15 (Pty) Ltd’ for payment of arrears monthly levies, power and water consumption, interest and penalty charges and costs on the attorney and client scale. Summons was served on the person in charge at the company’s registered address and at its physical address. No appearance to defend was entered and default judgment was granted on 31 October 2023,” Ludwiger said. He added that a writ of execution for movables was issued and that a Rule 108 application was brought in respect of the company’s vacant 12-erf property and, on 12 April 2024, the property was declared to be specially executable. A writ of execution against immovable property was issued and the immovable property was sold at auction on 22 July 2024. Ludwiger further stated that on 12 March 2026, the Court found that the sale in execution was not affected by the POCA proceedings and remained valid and binding, and that it could not be said to have been erroneously sought or granted, as envisaged in Rule 103(1)(a). “The default judgment can also not be rescinded under Rule 16 simply because the company in fact owes and does not dispute that it owes the debt in respect of which the default judgment was granted. The company can therefore not satisfy the requirement to show that it has a bona fide defence to the claim in respect of which default judgment was granted,” Ludwiger said. He added that Hatuikulipi’s business partner, a certain Izak Moller, did liaise with the Finkenstein Homeowners Association’s legal practitioner, Mr Marais, by email and loosely intimated that he would make periodic or monthly payments towards the outstanding levy account of the company, Sinco Investments 115 (Pty) Ltd. He, however, said that payments were not made and that it was the only [payment], and so the sale in execution proceeded. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In other words, Mr Moller did not make any of the payments he undertook to make and so the sale in execution proceeded. At the date of the sale in execution, the amount outstanding was N$183,718.89,” Ludwiger said. Photo: File The post Hatuikulipi seeks to regain auctioned Finkenstein Estate property appeared first on Informanté.

Namibia tightens the net on Fishrot fugitive De Klerk with R75.3m asset freeze  News24