Windhoek — AN ongoing investigation at the Windhoek Central Prison into unauthorised withdrawals from a special fund is set to net a number of high officials, well-placed sources in the Directorate Prison and Correctional Services said this weekend.

The Directorate, which now falls under the Minister of Safety and Security Peter Tsheehama, has been rocked by revelations that several high Prisons officials have been placed under investigation in connection with abuses of this fund.

At least two top officials, including a Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, are being investigated for "borrowing" hundreds of thousands of dollars from a "social support fund" and failing to repay such loans.

In one case, an official (whose name is known to The Namibian) borrowed some N$500 000 from the fund, but failed to make any repayments since the 1999/2000 financial year.

It was only when other prison wardens tried making use of the scheme that it was discovered that it had been entirely depleted, a well-placed source said.

In the course of the investigation, more senior officials' names were brought up in connection with unpaid loans, the source said.

Former Prisons and Correctional Services Deputy Minister Michaela Huebschle, who currently runs a prisoner rehabilitation NGO, expressed total surprise at the existence of such a fund.

"No my dear, you must ask the responsible officials at Prisons or the Minister about that .

But I do not know of such a fund, that did not exist during my time (as junior minister) at Prisons," she said.

She could also not confirm with certainty that vegetable projects she had started up during her tenure were still benefiting prisoners, with poor financial controls leading to "leakage" of income from selling fresh produce from the gardening project at the Divindu rehabilitation centre in western Caprivi.

Tsheehama, who took over this portfolio along with political responsibility for national security, could not be reached for comment over the weekend.