In his arguments in mitigation before High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg defence lawyer, Sisa Namandje says the former Education, Arts and Culture minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa has a mother to take care of financially with a serious health condition and her absence may not be a good decision. He further said apart from reducing her income from just over N$1 million per year to just above N$600 000 as an ordinary MP, she still has to take care the children of whom the oldest, at 29, is still a student. Namandje says Hanse-Himarwa is seeking forgiveness for the crime she committed for being a senior political figure. The defence lawyer says she is also a first offender at the age of 52 after having served in different public offices and that should be taken into account during the sentencing. She still owes the defence law firm close to N$1 million after already paying some funds Namandje noted. Hanse-Himarwa was found guilty of fraudulently replacing two housing beneficiaries with the names of her relatives. Namandje says the former minister has suffered enough by losing her position and her political career and that should also be taken into consideration. He further added that there is no evidence that after being promoted to a minister, Hanse Himarwa has shown habits of reasons of her conviction but she has shown leadership skills even heading a huge and influential ministry. He says although the offence was committed in her late 40s, it is still at an advanced age and a heavy punishment will not be fair. Namandje further indicated that he is not protecting offenders using their advanced stages but rather just stating that removing such an offender from society doesn’t reflect fairness. He further said his client has been trusted with public office since 1987.