Zorena Jantze
LEBBEUS Nghidimondjila Hashikutuva, former activist in the #ShutItDown movement, has been arrested for the alleged theft of N$40 000 meant for the AfterBreak publication.
The arrest of Hashikutuva was confirmed by LGBTQI+ activist and radical protester, Ndiilo Nthengwe, who is also a part of the #ShutitAllDown movement.
Nthengwe confirmed that Hashikutuva was arrested today for the theft under false pretenses case registered against him by the owners of the youth-led Afterbreak magazine.
Hashikutuva first made headlines for alleged theft earlier this week after information surfaced in a different matter in which he reportedly failed to account for US$5,000 awarded to the #ShutItDown movement by the Office of the African Union Youth Envoy.
In the meantime, the #ShutItAllDown movement has given an update in the matter regarding the unaccounted grant.
According to the movement, Hashikutuva, returned in access of N$60,000 on Tuesday, 12 October 2021.
The movement has, however, raised concerns about the origin of the funds by Hashikutuva as he has still failed to provide a transaction history on the alleged temporary bank account he opened in the name of the movement.
“Since 4 October 2021, #ShutitAllDown and the nation at large has witnessed the revelation of potentially damning information against one of its former members, Hashikutuva. After public outrage and expression of frustration, Hashikutuva has initiated correspondence with the movement via mail. In the correspondence, he attached proof of payment, with details on the transfer of funds amounting to US$5000,” the #ShutItAllDown movement delegation members updated.
They further noted that while they would like to proceed with the important work of advocating for a safer country for women, girls and gender diverse people in Namibia, they would like to ascertain the origins of the funds repatriated by Hashikutuva.
“Thereby, #ShutItAllDown has decided to proceed with actions to ascertain the sourcing of the funds, to know whether the payment made by Hashikutuva was transferred from the original funding and not monies that might have been attained in a dubious way. As a result, we have uncovered that there is something amiss with the payment made by Hashikutuva. We have requested that he provide us access to the bank account he opened to receive funds, as it was opened under #ShutItAllDown. Hashikutuva has absolutely ignored this. He, however, opted to transfer the funds back on Tuesday, 12 October,” the movement said.
