WINDHOEK – A retired teacher was arrested last Friday after police found him in possession of 11 live endangered African tortoises.
The police at Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region have identified the suspect as Francis Sinvula, well known as ‘Mass’. According to the Regional Crime Investigations Coordinator of Nampol in the region, Albius Liyomba, Sinvula was arrested at Ikumwe, a village in the Kabbe constituency, from where he hails with the endangered tortoises in his vehicle. “When they went to harvest the tortoises, he was with a guy driving him, because he does not have a valid driver’s licence. All the 11 African tortoises were found alive in the car.
These tortoises are edible so he was going to eat them,” Liyomba observed. Liyomba further said since the region received some showers recently, the tortoises must have emerged from the river in search of places to lay their eggs, adding that at the moment they are many in the valleys. Sinvula appeared in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate’s Court on Monday and was granted bail of N$1000. The police said all the tortoises were confiscated and will be returned to the wilderness.
By Albertina Nakale