Staff Reporter
ACC Investigator Oberty Inambao said that accused persons in the ongoing Namcor fraud and corruption trial called each other within moments of their arrest, and that these tip-offs resulted in the disappearance of fugitive Victor Malima, who is wanted in relation to the matter and is believed to be in Angola.
Inambao made these assertions in response to questions by Francious Bangawabo, the lawyer representing former Namcor MD Immanuel Mulunga and former finance executive Jennifer Hamukwaya, who argued that the State entered the court with “dirty hands” as they had not obtained search warrants before seizing his clients’ phones.
“When we arrested accused number two (Cornelius Willemse), we realized phone calls were made… it was within minutes. As we arrested Willemse, there was a call coming from Mulunga. We had to be swift in suspects informing each other, because of that one suspect is at large. They (the phones) became pieces of evidence. We believe that on that very day the investigations were compromised — that is why one of the accused is not here,” Inambao said.
Bangawabo, however, said that even if they represent the ACC or Namibian Police, investigators have to operate within the confines of the law and that, according to Article 13 of the Constitution, no one can enter private property or correspondence without a search warrant authorized by a judicial officer.
Inambao, however, said that this is wrong and that there are provisions within the Criminal Procedure Act and the ACC Act which, under certain circumstances, allow for articles to be seized without a warrant.
He further added that the ACC ensures that the integrity of evidence is maintained. “As far as our chain of custody records are concerned, the evidence is intact. The phones will be examined forensically to extract evidence to show time stamps. It will also show if someone tampered with such evidence,” Inambao said.
