Staff Reporter
DR. McAlbert Hengari, the 60-year-old former Minister of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Land Reform, accused of raping a 21-year-old woman, has denied ever meeting the alleged victim in 2019 — the year during which the victim alleged that the former minister raped her.
Hengari is currently before the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court applying for bail after his incarceration in late April 2025, alongside a 30-year-old co-accused man — the victim’s brother — and is accused of attempting to defeat the course of justice after allegedly attempting to pay a bribe of N$220,000 to a rape victim.
“I never met her in 2019. I was in the UK wrapping up my doctoral thesis… I met her in late 2021. I indicated to police to subpoena my telephone records,” Dr Hengari said.
He further denied that he paid bribes to the alleged rape victim in 2019, when the victim had been a minor. “Any money I gave her was subsequent to 2021. I invited them to go through my bank records. I have nothing to hide. I wanted to assist the police,” Hengari said.
He further added that when the rape victim’s brother, his co-accused, tried to resolve the matter, Hengari said that this could not be done as the complainant had made a statement under oath and could not withdraw it willy-nilly as she could face perjury charges due to lying under oath, and that the allegation was that he raped a minor, which made it a state case.
Hengari also denied paying a bribe of N$220,200 to the alleged rape victim, adding that he had come with the money from the farm and that he refused to give any amount to the rape complainant but merely offered her N$200 for them to go to their lawyer’s office.
