Windhoek
More than 50 people have been killed and 253 injured by unexploded ordnances in Namibia between the year 2000 and 2015, information from the police reveals.
Head of the Police Public Relations Division Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi said the deaths were recorded, despite the ‘Don’t touch it, report it’ campaign. Kanguatjivi is currently in the north. He pointed out that the deaths and injury of people due to unexploded ordnances prompted the Inspector-General of the police, Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, to send a team to the affected regions.
The team started its campaign in the Oshana Region on Tuesday and will do assessments for the next two days before departing for the Omusati and Kunene regions. This team is assessing the situation and re-launching the ‘Don’t touch it, report it’ campaign.
The most affected regions are Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Oshana, Omusati, Kunene, the two Kavango regions and Zambezi. The campaign started on September 16 and is headed by the Explosives Control Division and Deputy Commissioner John Alweendo kick-started the campaign in northern Namibia on September 16.
Items destroyed or removed include 3x60mm live mortar bombs, 11x60mm mortar bomb tailfins, 3x60mm fired mortar bombs, 4×65 live rifle grenades, 1x90mm live high explosive anti-tank rounds and 1×103 live rifle grenades.
The team is expected to complete its work in the Omusati and Kunene regions on October 13 before returning to Windhoek to plan for the Kavango and Zambezi regions. The campaign is set to end on November 5.