Windhoek
The police constable arrested and charged with aiding a convicted prisoner to escape from jail will face additional sanctions in the form institutional disciplinary proceedings, the police said in a statement yesterday.
Constable Festus Shihepo, 32, is alleged to have aided convicted prisoner Charles Namiseb, 34, to walk out of the holding cells of Windhoek police station on Monday, February 29, on the very day that the High Court convicted Namiseb on charges of robbery, rape, theft, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Namiseb was due to return to the High Court for sentencing on March 16.
Disciplinary proceedings are underway “to consider the member’s suitability to remain in the Namibian Police Force,” Inspector Slogan Matheus from the Police Public Relations Department said yesterday.
It is alleged that upon Namiseb’s return to the holding cells from the High Court he falsely informed Constable Shihepo, who was on duty at the time, that the High court has granted him bail and he is free to go.
Constable Shihepo was arrested on March 2 and appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on March 4 on charges of obstructing and defeating the course of justice, where he was granted bail of N$3 000.
The case was then postponed to May 16 for further police investigations.
Namiseb is yet to be re-captured since he walked out of the holding cells at the end of February and the police are appealing to the public for assistance in tracing his whereabouts.
“The police are hard at work to trace the fugitive and thus request public assistance to trace the fugitive. Namiseb hails from Uis, but he also has families in Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Otjiwarongo,” Matheus said.
The public is advised not to attempt to arrest the fugitive by themselves, as he might be a dangerous person, but should rather report his whereabouts to the nearest police station, he said.
Any person with information as to the whereabouts of Namiseb is requested to contact Chief Inspector John Mwatongwe at 064-219044, or alternatively at 081-2461121, or report to the nearest police station.
Urging police officers to behave ethically, Minister of Safety and Security (Rtd) Major-General Charles Namoloh, last year called for discipline in the police force, following a number of recent cases highlighting indiscipline and criminality in the force.