Eba Kandovazu
Various Namibian Police regional commanders are impressed with the low rate of crimes reported over the past weekend, saying that locals were on their best behaviour.
Oshana regional commander Commissioner Rauha Amwele said that no accidents were reported in her region, nor did they report any serious crime.
“During that long weekend, my officers also did not report any shebeen owners who contravened the liquor Act.
We also did not confiscate any alcohol. We didn’t also receive a lot of visitors in the region. We didn’t notice an influx of many vehicles. Friday was payday, so we saw a lot of locals going to banks and shopping centres. I would love to encourage members of the public to behave in an orderly manner and continue reporting suspicious behaviour,” she said.
Meanwhile, Khomas Regional Commander Ishmael Basson said that two shebeen owners were fined yesterday for operating illegally. According to him, the two were arrested.
“There was a slight increase in terms of the crimes reported because it was payday weekend and there was money in circulation, so obviously crime tends to pick up and become more prevalent. We also had a murder case where a woman stabbed to death her boyfriend. In terms of visiting travellers, we had more people going out between Thursday and Friday and more people coming back into the region on Monday. Generally speaking, the crime over the weekend was not out of hand. It was relatively quiet,” Basson said.
Erongo region reported a housebreaking incident. According to Inspector Ileni Shapumba, bar owners in the region were allowed to operate normally.
“People are allowed to sell. Their licenses authorize them to sell. We haven’t really paid much attention to shebeens because the law permits people to sell. It is different from region to region. We are responsible for our region specifically. We didn’t report major cases apart from the house raking and theft in Omaruru. We also reported an illegal hunting incident,” he said.
Shapumba also said that a severe accident was reported between Usakos and Karibib last night in which four people reportedly died. Shapumba stated that a double cab Toyota from the Karibib direction towards Usakos collided head-on with a Polo, which was driving from Usakos.
“The driver and three passengers in a polo car died at the scene,”Shapumba said.
The deceased persons have been identified as Ihuhwa Kamilo, 37, Sheekuli Andreas age (not confirmed), Festus Chris, age (not confirmed) (driver) and Johanna Hamutenya age (not confirmed).
They were all residents of Karibib.
Oshikoto Regional Head of Operations, Deputy Commissioner Petrus Shigwedha, said no serious crimes were reported in the region.
“It was under control. No serious accidents were also reported. We have observed bar owners operating illegally in Omuthiya town, but they closed down after we intervened. I’ve also been told by our colleagues in Tsumeb that everything was smooth,” he said.