14| INFORMANTÉ NORTHERN
14 November - 20 November 2013
north
Home Affairs office Trigger-happy man kills animals
without ID camera
William J. Mbangula
William J. Mbangula
DESPITE assurances by the Ministry
of Home Affairs and Immigration that
there will be no identification documents
(ID) problems before elections next year,
some of its offices are operating without
cameras.
One of the offices which had its services
brought to a standstill by lack of operational facilities is Grootfontein in Otjozondjupa Region.
According to sources, the Grootfontein office has no camera and is sharing
one with the Tsumeb office in Oshikoto
Region. An official at Tsumeb office said
that their camera is out in the field with the
mobile team, and will only be back next
month.
An official at Grootfontein declined to
explain why they have no camera. Instead,
he referred all queries to the head office in
Windhoek.
Informanté tried in vain to get comment
from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration spokesperson Salome Kambala.
In terms of the law, all Namibians aged
18 and above must be registered with the
Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN)
as voters. ECN will kick off a three-month
registration campaign starting on 5 January
until 2 March 2014. This will enable potential voters to participate in the envisaged
Presidential and Parliamentary elections
towards the end of next year.
In the absence of a Namibian ID, the law
allows a registered voter to state under oath
that a person is a Namibian citizen of voting age, and is thus eligible for registration as a voter. Some of the politicians and
non-governmental organisations have not
been comfortable with this arrangement,
arguing that it is open to abuse.
Responding to recent media queries regarding issuing of ID cards, the permanent
secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs
and Immigration, Patrick Nandago was
quoted assuring the nation that the situation is under control. He pointed out that
officials from his ministry are already out
in the field, issuing ID documents in cooperation with local authorities
TENSION is brewing between the villagers and
an alleged trigger-happy
resident of Ongwediva
town’s Hanover suburb,
who is suspected of stock
theft and malicious random shooting of animals.
The suspected offender,
who is said to have a military background in one of
the colonial elite units, is
living in Kandoko Street.
He is accused of randomly shooting stray animals
found on the edge of the
town, and sometimes loading such animals in his car,
probably for his own consumption.
He was recently allegedly seen shooting a donkey
which was grazing a distance from his house. The
dead donkey was later collected by the Ongwediva
Town Council authorities
for disposal at the dumpsite.
One of the latest incidents
took place last Friday evening, 8 November, when a
heifer was shot from a car
suspected to have come
from the house of the trigger-happy man.
“I was watching TV
when all of a sudden I
heard gunshots. When I
peeped through the window, I saw a car leaving an
area full of cattle grazing.
The car drove about two
hundred metres to the west
and then returned to the
shooting scene. The occupants pumped more bullets
into the shot head of cattle,
which was already fighting
for its life.
“I could see at least four
men emerging from a car
and they appeared struggling to cut the throat of the
cattle. They later picked it
up and bundled it into the
back of the car,” said a witness.
The witness explained
that when he went to the
shooting scene the next
morning, he found blood on
the ground and an ear tag.
The ear tag was identified
as belonging to one of Norbert Shipola’s cattle, and
this was only discovered
on Sunday, 10 November,
after he realised that one
of his heifers was missing.
Shipola has opened a case
of theft with the police in
Ongwediva.
The remains of the dead
heifer such as the skin,
head, hooves, intestinal and
bowel waste were found
discarded in the bushes
more than a kilometre from
the shooting scene.
Ongwediva Town Council spokesperson Andreas
Uutoni said the allegations
are being investigated by
the local authority.
Oshana Police Regional
BUTCHERED: Frieda Kathindi , the
wife of Norbert Shipola with the remains of the poached heifer.
Photo: William J. Mbangula
Commander Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa confirmed the incident which is also
being investigated by the police.
Recent police national statistics show that at least 119 cattle
were stolen in Oshana Region
since the beginning of the year,
of which 25 were recovered alive
or as meat. Compared with other
regions, Oshana has the least incidents of stock theft. The hardest
hit is Erongo with 1 135, Hardap
833, and Kunene 814
New copper mine for Omitiomire
Augetto Garig
“Moustache Evening”
Movember: No shave November raises awareness for Prostate Cancer & Men’s Health
Topics that will be discussed are:
• Prostate and Testicular Cancers
• Erectile dysfunction
• Circumcision
SLR Consulting has released the
environmental impact assessment
it completed for Craton Mining and
Exploration on its proposed Omitiomire Copper Oxide Mine.
The new mine is to be situated
120km northeast of Windhoek, and
39km south of Hochfeld in the Khomas Region. The mine will be located
on the farm Groot Omitiomire. The
mine is to produce copper and copper
concentrate from the near surface oxidised sulphide ores.
Craton is owned indirectly by Australian International Base Metals Limited. Exploration drilling started in
April 2007 and a sizeable copper deposit has since been delineated.
Grow your facial hair to show support and create awareness
Venue: Ongwediva Medipark {Unit 9}
Date: 22 November 2013
Time: 19:00
Refreshments & BBQ
Enquiries: Verona/Miriam 065 232920 / 232933
Email: [email protected][email protected]
PREP WORK: Bulk pit excavation is already
underway at the new Omitiomire Copper
Mine. Photo: interbasemetals.com
Three near surface oxidised deposits
can be successfully mined. The open
pits will be mined out within fourand-a-half to five years, including a
three month pre-production period.
The plant life is six-and-three-quarter years, as it will treat the stockpiled
medium grade material. Construction
of the mine and plant will take about
a year.
In broad terms