Former minister of agriculture, fisheries, water and land reform Mac Hengari and a co-accused on Friday pleaded not guilty on three charges on which they were arrested three and a half months ago.

Hengari (59) and the second accused (30) denied guilt on counts of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, corruptly giving gratification, and incitement to commit the offence of compounding by paying someone to unlawfully withdraw a criminal charge.

The second accused is not being named because he is related to a complainant in a rape case registered with the police.

After Hengari and the second accused gave their pleas to the charges, their case was postponed to 14 November for the prosecutor general to make a decision about the charges on which they will be prosecuted and in which court they will have to stand trial.

The state is alleging that Hengari and his co-accused on 26 April paid N$220 200 to a complainant who had earlier registered a rape case against Hengari with the police in an attempt to persuade her to withdraw her complaint against Hengari.

Hengari and the second accused were arrested in Windhoek on 26 April and were held in custody for more than three months until magistrate Monica Andjaba granted them bail in an amount of N$15 000 each on 7 August.