Namibian police have to explain fully how and why they were duped and fooled into releasing a dangerous criminal suspect into the wild jungle world of crime. They also have to account for this monumental failure to detect the ruse until five days later.
Not only that, but proper and quick investigations have to be instituted to determine whether there was no culpability and even collusion on the part of some members of the force and criminal elements. The police high command has to connect all the dots and act promptly and decisively to restore the credibility of the force in the eyes of a now suspicious public.
The police explanation of the circumstances leading to the escape of the prisoner sounds like a fairy tale or a movie series. The police version of what happened presents them as either foolish or totally incompetent and ignorant and is embarrassing to say the least.
That a policeman would release a prisoner duly assigned to him into the custody of a stranger and never mind the stranger masquerading as a cop is completely out of this world.
First of all, there ought to be standard procedures to be followed before such handover is carried out and if not that explains why this operation was executed without a hitch.
It is also baffling that this particular policeman was so dumb as to allow his catch to go without bothering to find out who the fake policeman was by way of verifying his force number, name, work station and such other relevant information, more so, if he did not know him personally.
Worst of all, the policeman who was in charge of Itai Mashamba failed to cross check the so-called order to release Mashamba into the custody of the “stranger” with his superiors. Had he done that soon enough, the fugitive would probably have been re-captured.
The fact that the bogus policeman knew Mashamba’s whereabouts says a lot about pre-intelligence gathering on the suspects prior to the escape. It may also be an indication that there may be a sleeper cell of these criminal operatives in Namibia. Those who hoodwinked the police must have done a lot of planning and small wonder that they acquired a police uniform.
It is also interesting that Itai Mashamba, a dangerous foreign armed robber was allowed out up to 5 o’clock in the company of a lone policeman. Was this part of an arrangement to have him escape or to aid his flight?
But the big question of all, why did the police fail to notice that Mashamba had vanished into thin air until five days later?
The discrepancy between the time that Mashamba went missing on July 13 and the formal announcement of his disappearance this week is also worrisome. Was there an attempt to cover up?
The entire episode smacks of a breach of every rule that pertains to the safe keeping of suspects. The police had better get smarter and not be out-smarted by criminals in this way.
The capture of Mashamba and fellow bank robbers was hailed as a sign of brilliant police work and so embarrassing is the escape of this fellow that we now wonder whether some of our force members are brilliant at all.
Tell this story to the Botswana police who helped us capture these men and they may laugh at us and regret the day they helped us. That is how embarrassing this case is. The escape, easy as it was is not only embarrassing but costly in both monetary terms and time.
Imagine that the police have had to and probably are still on a manhunt for Mashamba. This means money and time down the drain, and all this because of the fault of one man or two.
The police must investigate this case and institute corrective measures including putting systems in place that would mitigate against escapes such as this one. Indeed, there was no need for this man to escape had it not been for sloppy police work.