Staff Reporter
THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has cleared former IPC Local authority councillor, Desiree Davids, of any wrong-doing after it was alleged that the councillor got special treatment when she applied for land in Rocky Crest.
Davids, following a newspaper report, was suspended by the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) after the allegations of corrupt dealings in June 2021.
“Investigations could not yield evidence proving that Davids abused her position or that her application was treated differently from that of other councillors who had previously applied and allocated erfs. Therefore, there is no evidence that warrants submission of the docket to the Prosecutor-General for a decision to prosecute and the case file is therefore closed,” Josefina Nghituwamata, ACC’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), said in a statement.
It was alleged that Davids corruptly misused her position as a councillor to fast-track her application for an erf in the area of Rocky Crest, Windhoek. Further, it is alleged that the officials from the Mayor’s Office and letterhead were used to give the impression that the application was sanctioned by the Mayor’s Office.
According to the ACC’s investigations, Councillor Davids applied for an erf like other council members, with the letterhead of the Mayor.
The ACC further discovered that Davids was not the first councillor to apply for an erf using the letterhead of the Office of Mayor and the provisions of Paragraph 17 of Council Resolution 342/09/2012 provides the council members with the preference to apply for the sale of the land by private treaty, provided that Ministerial approval is obtained.
Nghituwamata said that the applicant who previously received the erf in question abandoned it after purchasing a townhouse in the Ludwigsdorf suburb.
“The previous applicant failed to pay the requisite N$30 000 deposit despite being given a sufficient amount of time to do so; this made the erf accessible to Councillor Davids. The application of Councillor Davids was not unnecessarily delayed because there were no justifications for the wait,” Nghituwamata said.
