Ex-police reservist jailed for three years for interfering with Fishrot investigation

A Former police reservist convicted of interfering in the investigation of the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering case has been sentenced to an effective prison term of three years.

Sakaria Kokule (51) was sentenced in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Kokule was found guilty of offering a bribe to an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigator and attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice a month ago.

Kokule and one of the key figures in the Fishrot case, James Hatuikulipi, were both prosecuted in connection with allegations that they tried to bribe an ACC officer in January 2020 by offering him N$250 000 in an attempt to get him to hand over evidence seized by the ACC to them.

Magistrate Kandiwapa Nembia found Hatuikulipi not guilty in a verdict delivered on 3 October.

The evidence that Kokule tried to get from the ACC official consisted of bank cards issued to Hatuikulipi and a co-accused in the Fishrot case, Pius Mwatelulo, as well as a handwritten document.

The evidence was collected during the ACC’s investigation of alleged corruption, fraud and other offences connected to the procurement and use of Namibian fishing quotas.

Kokule has been held in police custody since his arrest in January 2020.

Nembia sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment, of which two years are suspended for a period of five years.