Namibian defence minister resigns over undeclared offshore bank account
Minister resigns over undeclared offshore bank account and calls for forensic probe into Ministry of Defence.
RUSTENBURG, April 7 (ANA) – Namibian President Hage Geingob is expected to name a new defence minister after Peter Hafeni Vilho resigned on Tuesday.
Vilho resigned following media reports that he did not declare an offshore bank account in Hong Kong.
He held a meeting with Geingob and vice-president Nangolo Mbumba on Tuesday about the undeclared account before tendering his resignation.
According to a statement from the Namibian Presidency, Geingob has accepted Vilho’s resignation from the cabinet and the government.
Local newspapers reported last week that he confirmed owning a unit trust account in Hong Kong, which reportedly had a market value of about US$233,631 (N$3.4 million) as at September 2020.
He told the Namibian Sun that he had held the offshore account for 12 years, but his submission of assets and sources of income at parliament, which he signed on June 2, 2020, did not reflect the account.
Local newspaper Informante reported on Wednesday that Vilho in his resignation letter requested the Presidency to order an urgent forensic audit of the books of the Ministry of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, the Namibian Defence Force and that of August26 Holdings, a company owned 100% by the defence ministry.
According to Informante, during the consultation with Geingob and Mbumba, Vilho drew their attention to a number of issues that require urgent investigation and action on their part.
According to daily newspaper New Era, Vilho is the fourth minister to resign from cabinet while serving under Geingob.
In 2019, former education minister Katrina Hanse Himarwa resigned from her position as Hardap governor after she was convicted in the Windhoek High Court on a charge of corruption.
Former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau and former justice minister Sacky Shanghala were also forced to quit cabinet when they were implicated in the multimillion-dollar Fishrot scandal.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
