A witness in the ongoing trial against Minister of Education Katrina Hanse-Himarwa claimed that the then Hardap Governor orchestrated the removal of names of two beneficiaries from the Mass Housing List in 2014. Merrow Thaniseb, who serves as a Deputy Director in the Urban and Rural Development Ministry, made the claims before judge Christie Liebenberg on Thursday. He was part of a ministerial team of five officials who were tasked with selecting the beneficiaries and spearheading the logistical arrangements of the Mass Housing handover programme in Mariental. Thaniseb also added that Hanse-Himarwa justified the removal of the two people by asking why people campaigning against SWAPO must be accorded houses. This came shortly after the Ministerial team, National Housing Enterprise (NHE) officials and those from the Mariental Town Council drafted a final list which was shared with Hanse-Himarwa to merely sensitise her on the progress prior to the handover on the 17 December 2014. He says, after drafting the list, a high-level team including him visited Hanse-Himarwa where she raised concerns of being sidelines in the selection of beneficiaries. The norm, he says, is that, when a person is removed, the following person on the list who meets the criteria must be accorded the house, as opposed to thump-sucked names. She subsequently proposed the new names, both of which are her relatives, by stating that they are in dire need of housing due to their physical challenges. Thaniseb, is the second official to say so, following a testimony by his colleague Cassius Ndisiro, who also indicated that the CEO of the Mariental Town Council informed them that Hanse-Himarwa indeed called for the amendment of the list. Ndisiro, serves as an accountant in the same ministry and was also part of the team of five officials in Mariental. He, however, changed his tone and pleaded ignorance of who amended the list, during cross examination by defense lawyer Sisa Namandje. Namandje, is adamant that even if Hanse-Himarwa wanted to change the list, the sole decision to do so, was the ultimate authority of the town council and ministry. The meeting, at which Hanse-Himarwa recommended the new names, was merely a courtesy call and not a working visit for her to alter the list because she has no such powers, Namandje says. Thaniseb, is adamant that the recommendations by Hanse-Himarwa was not just an opinion, but is an instruction, to which they ultimately obliged. Thaniseb, prior to the amendment of the list, informed her of the criteria used to identify the beneficiaries as customary in areas such as Walvis Bay and Oshakati, where such houses were handed over, to which she replied that whatever transpired in other regions is not her concern and the Hardap Region will apply its own processes.