Suspects in Oshikoto drought relief theft not yet arrested

The Oshikoto police have not yet arrested the person(s) accused of stealing drought relief food found at Leeu Pos Farm in the Guinas constituency.

This was confirmed by the Oshikoto police regional crime investigations coordinator, deputy commissioner Titus Ekandjo, yesterday.

Ekandjo said this, because the police are still busy with their investigations.

The incident report, shared by Ekandjo yesterday, says the stolen items include 34 20kg bags of drought relief maize, two boxes of cooking oil, seven 24-packs of 400g tins of fish and two bags of red beans.

According to the police, the items have an estimated value of N$100 000.

The police did not to disclose where the food was stolen from.

The police reported in their weekend crime report on Sunday that the stolen food was found after an intelligence-led operation and a search was conducted at the suspect’s farm.

Oshikoto governor Penda ya Ndakolo told The Namibian yesterday that he only learned of the theft from the media.

“Nobody told me about it. I called the councillor, the councillor told me that he was not aware of it. I called the regional commander and she said the police were notified by someone. It’s a lot of food and the matter is being investigated by the police,” Ya Ndakolo said.

The governor said if there is any irregularity, the law will take its course.

Guinas constituency councillor Elias Marthinu also says he does not know where the food came from and how it got to the farm.

“It’s a resettlement farm. There are about three houses on the farm. I can’t say at whose house the food was found, because that’s now in the hands of the police,” Marthinu says.

A TREND

Last month, the media reported that police in the Kavango West region are on a manhunt after food meant for the drought relief programme was stolen at Katwitwi settlement.

According to the police, the food, worth N$39 000, was allegedly stolen from a warehouse where it was stored.

The stolen food includes bags of maize meal, cans of beef and fish, as well as bottles of cooking oil.

In January, The Namibian reported that the Ohangwena region’s Disaster Risk Management Unit lost more than N$600 000 worth of cooking oil, and other items, from its warehouse due to theft.

Seven employees were arrested on Friday in connection with the incident.

The Export Processing Zone warehouse at Oshikango was used to store items aimed at improving the lives of those affected by disasters like floods and drought.

A number of employees from the regional council disaster risk management unit were arrested and are currently in police custody at Oshikango.

The Ohangwena region crime investigations coordinator, deputy commissioner Zacharias Amakali, says the theft occurred between 29 September and 12 December at a warehouse at Helao Nafidi.

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