WINDHOEK– A resident of Golgota, Jerry Simasiku, has twice been wrongly issued with traffic fines on charges of not complying with traffic in a case of mistaken identity.
Members of the City Police on Wednesday mailed a speeding ticket to Simasiku whom they threatened to arrest when he approached them to clear his name.
Last year he also approached City Police who were apologetic after he proved to them it was a case of mistaken identity and they even promised to rectify the issue but instead they threatened to arrest him. It is alleged Simasiku was driving a Toyota VVTI pickup with the registration number N477GO but Simasiku who resides in Windhoek and does not stay in Gobabis where the vehicle is registered says he owns a Toyota Landcruiser and Ford Bantam, both registered in Windhoek where he currently lives.
“I own a Land Cruiser bakkie with a registration of N123-398W instead of what the police are accusing me of. This is the second time I am receiving a ticket for the same vehicle which does not belong to me,” said a furious Simasiku.
Simasiku stated that last year he received a traffic ticket via mail in which he was warned to pay the traffic ticket of N$425 or face arrest related to a speeding incident of 85 km per hour along Hosea Kutako. For the second ticket Simasiku is wrongly accused of having “parked” the Gobabis-registered vehicle in a prohibited parking area along Luderitz Street for which the fine is N$500.
“Last year I approached the City Police traffic department to clear my name but now I am surprised and disappointed to receive yet another traffic fine with a vehicle registration that doesn’t belong to me. I don’t really know if City Police is doing its job properly or it is a matter of incompetence,” said a clearly irritated Simasiku. He said City Police claims it was fed the wrong information by the licensing authority the Namibian Traffic Information System (NaTIS).
Simasiku has hinted he might sue for wrongful and malicious prosecution if the harassment continues.
When contacted for comment an official at NaTIS who refused to be named claimed their system shows that Simasiku owns the vehicle caught speeding and involved in a traffic offense.
Simasiku, however, denies being the owner of the Gobabis-registered vehicle and insists his vehicle is a Land Cruiser which is different from the VVTI pick-up and he has proof of a picture which he got from the City Police CCTV cameras, and therefore pleaded to both NaTIS and City Police to trace the person using that registration number, as he fears he might have a very big problem which could be created by the person driving that vehicle.