Convicted Kapia says Avid case was ‘s**t’

Swapo central committee member Paulus Kapia says the case in which he and six other people were accused of defrauding the Social Security Commission (SSC) through an investment deal involving N$30 million, was “s**t”.

Kapia said this while addressing a Swapo rally at Okahao on Sunday.

At the close of their trial in the Windhoek High Court in July 2018, Kapia, who was a director of the company Avid Investment Corporation, fellow former member of parliament Ralph Blaauw and Inez /Gâses, who was the chairperson of Avid’s board of directors, were each sentenced to pay a fine of N$60 000 or serve a three-year prison term.

Kapia, /Gâses and Blaauw were convicted of fraud as a result of misrepresentations made to SSC managers to convince them to invest money with Avid in January 2005.

However, judge Christie Liebenberg found they were not aware that the SSC’s money was to be embezzled by the founder of Avid, the late Lazarus Kandara, a co-accused during the trial, Nico Josea, and a supposed financial broker in South Africa, Alan Rosenberg.

Josea, who was found to have played a key role in the theft of the money, was sentenced to an effective prison term of 17 years.

Kapia questioned why all directors in companies where money was lost had not been tried in court.

“Was this not st? This was st. They are embarrassed. The judge said you are not guilty, go home. Nico Josea, 17 years (in jail),” Kapia said.

He told rally attendees at the end of the trial the judge found that he did not intend to steal the money but to invest it.

Kapia said there are still some people who associate him with the case but “they will be left embarrassed”.

“They must be ashamed,” Kapia said.

He urged party members and ex-People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (Plan) fighters to be cautious, while claiming that foreign governments want to install a puppet government in Namibia.

According to him, there are people saying Swapo was given money by the United Nations (UN) to give to former freedom fighters to resettle and rehabilitate Plan fighters.

“There is nothing like that. That’s a lie being peddled by enemies of Swapo. A lie by those who want to install a puppet government in Namibia from Britain,” Kapia claimed.

“Swapo enemies will not stop. They want to topple Swapo and instal a puppet government and for gay people to take over the government,” he added, saying the aim is to destroy Swapo.

He also claimed he was profiled by Americans, with the help of some people in Swapo who wanted to sabotage him.

“You don’t know some of the things. In 1998, while I was still Swapo Party Youth League secretary, not yet in government, I had bodyguards,” he said.

This was arranged due to threats against his life, he said.

He told audience members not to accept money from neighbours who go to towns as those neighbours might be members of opposition parties.

“Those people might have been already recruited by Kandjafa [Panduleni Itula], [McHenry] Venaani, [Bernadus] Swartbooi or Job Amupanda.

“Job was crying to become the mayor [of Windhoek] we said, there is the job. The first thing he did was to increase his salary. He did not deliver the land he promised the people,” Kapia said.

Kapia also bashed people who left Swapo and returned to the party, saying they returned to be buried by the government.

Reacting to Kapia’s remarks, Amupanda said the nation should pray for Kapia as he needs help. “May the almighty assist him in whatever he wants. He is a springbok and I am a lion. He is at sunset while I am leading a generation of sunrise. The less said about him the better,” Amupanda said.