NAMIBIA’S justice and fisheries ministers resigned on Wednesday over bribery claims involving Icelandic fishing firm Samherji, local media reported on Wednesday.
Justice Minister Sackeus Shanghala and Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Bernhard Esau resigned from the cabinet following media reports they awarded horse mackerel quotas to Iceland’s biggest fishing firm in exchange for bribes.
Norwegian bank DNB is investigating media allegations that an Icelandic company transferred money via the bank to bribe Namibian officials, DNB said on Wednesday.
Iceland’s public broadcaster reported on Tuesday that fisheries group Samherji h
ad made illicit payments worth millions of dollars to secure fishing quotas in Namibia.
‘We are of course investigating the claims,’ DNB said of the report.
The Namibian government had no immediate comment.
Samherji said in a statement it had hired a law firm to investigate the allegations.
‘We have engaged the international law firm Wi
kborg Rein in Norway to investigate the activities in Namibia. In this investigation, nothing will be excluded and we will disclose its findings as soon as they become available,’ it added.
