Denver Isaacs
14 April 2008
Windhoek — The trial of two former senior University of Namibia (Unam) employees accused of stealing more than N$69 000 worth of computer equipment has been postponed to November because two key witnesses were not available.
One of these witnesses is the University's Vice Chancellor Professor Lazarus Hangula, who was reported to be in hospital. The university charged the two accused men, its former Pro Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research, Professor Geoffrey Kiangi, and the former head of its computer centre, Kaggere Suresh, with theft after Police and university security confiscated 12 computers and related equipment from them at an address in Windhoek belonging to Kiangi on March 10 2006.
The two have throughout maintained that they were in the process of a legitimate business deal of which the university's management was fully aware. Thursday's proceedings saw testimony from three Unam employees who at the time of the incident were employed in the computer centre
Two of these witnesses, network administrator Sackaria Shilongo and help desk officer and office secretary Gail Beukes, testified that on the day before the incident, Suresh had informed his department at a meeting that they were to assemble 17 computers, 12 of which were to go to Kiangi.
The two accused's defence lawyer, Louis Botes, also continued to highlight a paper trail, which he said showed clearly that the accused had no sinister motives and proved the legitimacy of the transaction. This trail include forms authorising the use of the Unam vehicle that transported the equipment from the campus to Kiangi's property, order forms for the equipment which went through the university's finance department, and the alleged minutes of a tender board meeting from July 2005 which suggested that the university get involved in income-generating projects, including the selling of computers.
Kiangi and Suresh have stated in written plea explanations that they were arrested in the middle of such a transaction, with the computers destined for a training centre that Kiangi's wife planned to open. Deputy Prosecutor General Johnny Truter on Monday and Thursday explored discrepancies in the gate pass which accompanied the Unam vehicle transporting the equipment. This form has three colour-coded copies - a white one which accompanies the driver, a pink one which is handed to the security guard at the gate, and a green copy which stays in the gate pass book.
Details to be filled in on this form include the name and staff number of the driver, the registration number of the vehicle, the number of people to be transported, the destination and route to be used, and a description of the equipment to be carried. In this case, the white slip was complete with the staff number of the driver and the vehicle's registration number, while the pink slip that stayed with the security guard did not contain this information. The man who signed the papers on the day, former network technician Markus Richter, on Monday testified that he may have accidentally neglected to tear out the pink copy along with the white copy when he handed this to the men who took the vehicle. The man who drove the vehicle, cable technician Jerome Munangisa, added yesterday that he filled in the missing parts on the white paper later.
Both men stated that they had been in a rush to finish, something which they said must have contributed to the mistake. When the trial was postponed yesterday, Magistrate Sarel Jacobs extended the accused's bail of N$7 000, and cancelled all bail conditions.
These included surrendering their travel documents to the Police, a ban on leaving the district of Windhoek without the investigating officer's permission, and reporting to the investigating officer each Wednesday. They are expected to return to court on November 10.
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