Niël Terblanché
DETECTIVES of the Namibian Police this afternoon arrested the Technical Director of the Electoral Commission of Namibia, Milton Shaanika Louw, on a theft charge after it was discovered that he removed five laptop computers from the electoral body’s head-office in Windhoek recently.
The Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga confirmed the arrest and indicated that Louw was charged with theft.
The arrest follows after the Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer of the ECN, Theo Mujoro, registered a case of theft with the police in Windhoek last week Thursday. Mujoro on Tuesday this week confirmed that he positively identified the computers as the property of the ECN after members of the police confiscated it from Louw.
General Ndeitunga said that Louw was charged with theft. He said that other charges may be added due to the extremely sensitive nature of the specific incident.
“I can confirm that Louw was arrested after careful investigations into the theft of the computers from the ECN head-office were conducted. During the arrest the house where the suspect resides was also searched,” General Ndeitunga said.
While being interviewed by a radio station based in Windhoek Louw admitted that he took five new laptops from the ECN offices. He claimed that the Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer of the ECN was made aware of his actions after it was discovered that the ECN computer system was hacked. He said on air that it was his intention to prove that vote-rigging took place during the recent Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Louw, however, did not explain why he was accosted by police officers in the parking area of a well known shopping centre in Windhoek while on his way back from a pawnshop where he took delivery of the laptops.
He further claimed that he did not by whom or how the ECN system was hacked but stated that something went wrong and that he was ordered by Mujoro to investigate the incident.
“Somebody messed with our system at 15:19 on 30 November, and they stole votes from everybody equally at the same time,” Louw claimed during the interview.
When questioned about the incident on Tuesday Mujoro gave the assurance that the laptop computers in question were never used for or during the election process and that the equipment did not contain any election data.
He said the computers were new and was acquired by the ECN for the supplementary registration of voters.
General Ndeitunga indicated that Louw will appear in court on the charge of theft within the next two days.
