To watch over the watchdog

Sharlien Tjambari

So who will be watching over the watch dog? The answer is the National Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum (NACIF), which will be launched in Windhoek tomorrow. The coast had an appetiser this week of NACIF with the unveiling of the Forum’s logo at Swakopmund.
The Forum is a non-governmental organisation which strives to closely cooperate with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), to drive the country’s anti-corruption agenda by raising awareness and stimulating debate for action. It was understood this week NACIF is yet to be established ties with the ACC. NACIF is self-funded and currently has five directors. The Forum is also planning to extent its ties with both the public- and private sector to raise its profile as watchdog over the ACC.
At the unveiling the Director of NACIF, Manfred /Naobeb, said corruption has encircled Namibia, but that it is kept under the table because corruption has become a bread and butter topic for many in top managerial positions. In fact, /Naobeb alleges that many sitting in top positions were appointed through corrupt recruitment processes.
The focus of the Forum will be on cases not yet finalised by the Anti-Corruption Commission. “The ACC will be held accountable and will be forced to finalise cases. Currently, there is no authority to hold Government accountable for their wrongdoings. The Forum will be that authority which questions Government’s integrity”, said /Naobeb. Adding the ACC only investigates cases of ordinary Namibians and sidesteps cases involving politicians, high-ranking officials and the elite.
/Naobeb further stated: “Many people became beneficiaries of corruption. I have it on record and have studied the entire landscape of corruption in Namibia. My finding is the rot (corruption) starts and ends with the leadership in Namibia. It is against this background that I have initiated the NACIF, in order to point out those corrupt ones who claim not to be corrupt and are enriched through corruption”.
According to /Naobeb, it has become a norm that those in top managerial positions from all sectors of the society are now promoting corruption in broad daylight. /Naobeb feels these individuals even captured the judiciary of the country in some instances. He claims as a result the law of the country has become irrelevant and dormant in many ways.
“The time has come to restore law and order in Namibia. We cannot allow corruption to rule us. We have suffered enough and in order to safe-guard the future of our children and of our beloved country, we need to draw a line and unite against corruption in Namibia”, added /Naobeb.
The launch of this forum will take place in Windhoek this weekend at the Avani Hotel and Casino at 18:00.
The sub-theme of the launch is: “Confronting Corruption Head-On”. This will be followed by a Gala Dinner at Walvis Bay on 27 October and the first ever NACIF Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue Series which will be hosted on 23 and 24 November in Windhoek.