Day: October 16, 2023

OTJIWARONGO: A 25-year-old man died instantly on Saturday after he was reportedly stabbed once in the chest in the Telecom informal settlement at Otjiwarongo.

The Namibian Police Force’s (NamPol) head of community affairs in the Otjozondjupa Region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha in the weekend crime report on Monday indicated that the deceased was identified by relatives as Oldrick Gaiseb.

The incident allegedly occurred around 14h40 on Saturday. A friend of the deceased, also aged 25, handed himself over at the Otjiwarongo Police Station on Sunday in connection with the matter, Mbeha said.

“The knife suspected to have been used in the stabbing was allegedly dumped in a pit latrine by the suspect,” Mbeha added.

Preliminary police investigations revealed that the two had an argument over N.dollars 50. Gaiseb allegedly wanted to stab the suspect but the suspect grabbed the knife and used it to stab Gaiseb in the chest, killing him instantly, said Mbeha.

The suspect is expected to appear in the magistrate’s court at Otjiwarongo during the week.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The Katutura Magistrate’s Court on Monday acquitted City Police officer, Fabian Amukwelele on rape and kidnapping charges.

Amukwelele, who at the time of his arrest in April 2020 was the City Police’s spokesperson, was accused of holding a colleague captive in his rented home in Rocky Crest. This, the State alleged, was before he raped her. The incident, according to the State, occurred between 10 and 11 January 2020.

Magistrate Leopold Hangalo, in delivering his judgment, found that the State witnesses’ accounts were inconsistent.

He also remarked that the complainant’s testimony fell short of the standard of proof required for conviction. The State, he said, failed to prove the alleged charges beyond reasonable doubt. Hangalo also found that Amukwelele had been consistent in his testimonies throughout the trial.

Amukwelele’s version of events is that he and the complainant in the matter had consensual sexual intercourse. The complainant was 27 at the time.

Amukwelele was represented by Sisa Namandje.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Items worth N.dollars 83 800 were stolen during a break-in at a house in Windhoek’s Otjomuise residential area on Saturday.

The Namibian Police Force in a crime report on Sunday said four men allegedly broke into the house around 05h00, using a bolt cutter to cut through the fence.

They fled with items including one television set, three laptops, one computer, six watches, two cellphones and clothing.

The clothes and two laptops have been recovered but there have been no arrests in connection with the matter and police investigations continue.

In a similar incident in Otjomuise, a woman was on Saturday held at gunpoint and robbed of items valued at N.dollars 33 600 after a suspect gained entrance to her residence.

The suspect allegedly accessed the house by removing a window in the living room around 04h00 before threatening the suspect with a firearm. He stole items including a TV, hard drive and cellphone.

The 33-year-old suspect has been arrested and investigations are ongoing.

In another break-in,
items worth N.dollars 58 000 were stolen from a house in Academia on Saturday.

The incident occurred between 02h00 and 02h30 and the robbers cut the electric fence to access the house.

A television, wallet and clothes were amongst the stolen items which have not been recovered yet.

No arrests have been made and police investigations continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The United States government on Monday handed over 16 vehicles to the Ministry of Health and Social Services to support the ministry’s mentorship programme in the Khomas Region.

In a statement issued by the ministry on Monday, Minister Kalumbi Shangula stated that the mentorship programme was introduced in 2015 as part of the acceleration plan to reach HIV epidemic control by 2030, in line with the UNAIDS fast tract targets of 90-90-90.

“Clinical mentors recruited with funding from the CDC (US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention) provide support to healthcare workers involved in the national HIV response. They are experienced clinician-trainers and carry out activities such as onsite training and consultation on complex cases, support and enhance high-level problem-solving, diagnostic and decision-making skills, lead case discussions, and address issues of quality assurance and continuing education,” he said.

Shangula noted that the mentorship programme was expanded to the Omaheke, Kunene and Hardap regions in February 2020. Following this expansion, the US government officially handed over six new additional vehicles.

“The mentorship vehicles are not only a mode of transportation, but are vehicles symbolic of the connections we forge and the paths we traverse together. They represent the bridge between experience and aspirations, between knowledge and action,” the minister said.

During the same handover, CDC Country Director Randy Berry stated that the 16 vehicles were provided by the US CDC with funding from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

“These vehicles will enable the clinical mentors in all 14 regions of the country to more frequently, and more efficiently, visit clinics throughout the country for the clinical mentors programme that has a direct impact on so many lives,”

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council in Windhoek on Monday opened its first Rescheduling of Veterinary Medicines stakeholder consultations workshop.

During the first day of the three-day workshop, NMRC representative Bertha Alpo noted that the workshop was motivated by the urgent need to sustainably address antimicrobial resistance which is recognised as a key global challenge. The exercise will align with the Namibia Antimicrobial Resistance National Action Plan, she added.

“All medicines, including veterinary medicines, are regulated through the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act under the custodianship of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Animal Health Act under the agriculture ministry allowing the veterinary services directorate to control animal related disease.”

The two ministries, MoHSS and Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform have worked together in apposition of medicines for state-controlled diseases such as rabies and foot and mouth disease among others, she said.

The objective of the workshop is to serve as a forum for stakeholders to engage, providing inputs of the practicality on the proposed schedules especially the antimicrobials, which will assist the council to have a well-informed decision.

During the same workshop, Ministry of Agriculture veterinarian, Dr Paul Sitwala noted that rescheduling is an important determinant of availability and accessibility in humans and animals, and that it does not matter who can access the medicine as this is important to ensure that the medicine is used in an international manner and that it is aligned with the national action plan for antimicrobial resistance.

NMRC is the national regulation body responsible for ensuring that medicines produced or imported into the country for human or veterinary use are safe and are of acceptable quality. It was established in terms of section 2 in of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, constituting of 12 members appointed by the minister of health.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

OMUTHIYA: The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform’s (MAWLR) head of rural water supply and sanitation in Oshikoto, Stevenson Tuukondjele said they plan to install 20 boreholes in the Oshikoto Region early next year.

Tuukondjele in an interview with Nampa here on Monday said the boreholes will be installed in the eastern part of the region, where water shortages are experienced.

“These boreholes will be installed in the Nehale LyaMpingana, Okankolo, Eengodi and Omuthiya constituencies,” he said.

Tuukondjele further said the ministry is busy with administrative work for now, and they will start drilling these boreholes early next year, probably around January.

He also explained the method that will be used to convert this borehole water to drinkable water.

“The ministry also embarked on research on the desalination of saline underground water, so this salty water can now be made safer for human and animal consumption,” he said.

He said they have chosen a company responsible for this process which is currently busy desalinating water in the Kunene Region.

“We are busy exploring the best possible way to take water to these areas in the meantime,” said Tuukondjele.

He also reported that a number of villages that did not have water in September, are now getting water as most of the problems, such as bursting of pipes, have been solved.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency