Some Swapo cadres who fell by the roadside after the 2017 elective congress said there were suspicions even back then about the money used in the campaign.
Former Swapo secretary-general Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana and former deputy prime minister Nahas Angula said this in response to the revelations made in court by the ACC investigation Willem Olivier Wednesday.
Olivier was testifying against the former fisheries minister Bernard Esau and his son-in-law Tamson Hatuikulipi’s bail application.
Both Esau and Hatuikulipi are accused in the Fishrot scandal where multi-million dollars were transferred from Fishcor accounts among other accounts into some lawyers’ trust accounts.
The other Fishrot-accused are James Hatuikulipi, former justice minister Sacky Shanghala, Pius Mwatelulo, Ricardo Gustavo and Mike Nghipunya.
Gustavo and Nghipunya have already applied for bail and both were unsuccessful.
Testifying during the third day in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, Olivier said some of the money from the Fishrot scandal was used by some politicians for the Swapo campaigns.
Iivula-Ithana, who ran for the Swapo presidency against Hage Geingob, Nahas Angula, Jerry Ekandjo and Helmut Angula, said Olivier’s revelations have confirmed suspicions that have always been there.
“I have observed comrades trying very hard to win elections. Trying very hard to the extent that some people were even saying by hook and crook I must win this election. If people want you to be a leader you do not have to do anything extra-ordinary.
“Rumours were there that after the 2017 congress, people who were listed as Harambee delegates were given envelops as they got onto the bus to return to their region. But then the question was, where did the money come from? The rumour has been confirmed,” she said.
Nahas Angula told The Namibian Wednesday that some of them knew about ït (vote-buying) and called on the party leadership to resign because they were illegitimately voted into office.
“Someone from the fishing industry called me a few weeks after the Swapo congress and said the congress was a farce,” Angula said.
“We can see that some people are holding offices illegally,” he said.
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