Staff Reporter
A staff member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Namibia has been arrested over alleged fraud linked to the agency’s cash-based assistance programme, which is aimed at supporting refugees.
This follows allegations by several refugees at Osire Camp that they have not received the financial assistance they were meant to receive from UNHCR through the MTC Maris system. At least 111 families confirmed that they have not received the expected assistance since the beginning of the year, despite meeting the eligibility requirements.
Initially, UNHCR officials declined to comment when contacted by Informanté. They later acknowledged that not all refugees at Osire Camp had received financial assistance, citing limited funding as the reason.
However, the recent arrest indicates that there may be more to the story than UNHCR initially suggested.
One affected refugee, Victor Afande, revealed that the arrest stemmed from a case he had filed against a UNHCR protection officer, after the officer was allegedly seen withdrawing large sums of money suspected to have been part of the refugees’ financial aid. This did not result in an arrest at the time.
However, the official was arrested this week following the arrest of another man, who was identified as his accomplice.
“On Thursday, a man was found withdrawing large amounts of MTC money, and a supermarket alerted the police at the Woermann Brock branch in Klein Windhoek. The police acted quickly and arrested the suspect. After interrogation, the suspect identified a UNHCR Protection Officer as his accomplice. The suspect was found in possession of seven SIM cards. He had withdrawn N$7,000 and was also found with a list names of refugee families. After the suspect named the protection officer as his accomplice, we drove together to his residence, where he was immediately arrested and taken to the Central Police Station,” Afande added.
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Photo: File
