I was not involved– Fishrot’s Fitty

One of the key figures in the Fishrot fraud and corruption case, Tamson ‘Fitty’ Hatuikulipi, says he had no involvement with companies alleged to have played a central role in the unlawful acquisition and use of Namibian fishing quotas.

Hatuikulipi told judge David Munsu during a bail hearing in the Windhoek High Court last week that he was not involved with the company Namgomar Pesca Namibia, registered in Namibia, and the Angolan companies Namgomar Pesca Limitada and Namgomar Pesca SA.

This is despite his inclusion in email correspondence in which some of his co-accused in the Fishrot case discussed setting up the companies and securing Namibian fishing quotas for them.

When he was included as a recipient of email messages about the Namgomar companies, it was because he was doing work for the Icelandic fishing company group Samherji HF and it was merely meant to keep him informed due to Samherji’s business relationship with the Namgomar companies, Hatuikulipi said.

Hatuikulipi also said he was not involved with the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor), which the state alleges was also used to give companies in the Samherji group access to Namibian fishing quotas.

Court refuses to release money for Fishrot accused’s legal costs

The state is alleging that Hatuikulipi (43) introduced senior Samherji executives near the end of 2011 to his father-in-law, former minister of fisheries and marine resources Bernhard Esau, who subsequently approved the allocation of fishing quotas to Namgomar Pesca SA and Fishcor. Those quotas were sold to companies in the Samherji group and the proceeds from the quotas were shared among the accused in the Fishrot case, the state is alleging.

According to the state, Hatuikulipi received at least N$57,6 million from his involvement in the alleged scheme through which Samherji received access to Namibian fishing quotas that were supposed to be allocated for “governmental objectives”.

Hatuikulipi told the court last week that he had an agreement to provide consultancy services to the Samherji group and to market Samherji’s fish products.

According to the state, based on a statement made by former Samherji executive Jóhannes Stefánsson, the payments that Hatuikulipi received were bribes, deputy prosecutor general Hesekiel Iipinge told Hatuikulipi during cross-examination.

That is an allegation made by Stefánsson, Hatuikulipi said.

On further questions from Iipinge, Hatuikulipi said there was no agreed rate according to which he was paid for the consultancy and marketing work he said he did for Samherji.

Prison stay continues for Fishrot’s Fitty

Anti-Corruption Commission investigator Andreas Kanyangela told the court there is no change to his previous stance of having objections to the granting of bail to Hatuikulipi.

Kanyangela claimed it would not be in the interest of the public or the administration of justice to release Hatuikulipi on bail. He added that Hatuikulipi is facing serious charges and could be sentenced to a long period of imprisonment if found guilty.

According to Stefánsson, a consultancy services agreement between Hatuikulipi and Samherji was a “dummy agreement” tailored to cover the payment of bribes to Hatuikulipi, Kanyangela said as well.

Cross-examining Kanyangela, defence lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji accused him of being biased against Hatuikulipi.

Kanyangela was trying by all means to discredit Hatuikulipi and did not properly investigate the claims made by Stefánsson, whose version was simply accepted as “the gospel truth”, Siyomunji said.

The bail hearing is scheduled to continue on 14 October.

Hatuikulipi has been held in custody since his arrest near the end of November 2019.

He has applied to be granted bail twice previously, without success.