ETANGA – The Kunene region has seen the worst dry spells in the past decade, resulting in more than 90% of livestock losses, farmers are now hit by livestock theft. 

The farmers say there is a spike in livestock theft despite their attempts to recover their herd numbers after it was ravaged by climatic shocks.

As a result of these losses, most farmers are now at the mercy of the government’s food and drought assistance programmes.

During a recent interview with Nampa, Namibian Police community affairs officer in Kunene, Inspector Vehangaiza Candy Ruiter revealed that the majority of stock theft cases involve farmers who have lost livestock as a result of the current climatic crisis and are now attempting to recoup and replace.

According to Ruiter, most young people are involved in livestock thievery due to the fact they are unemployed, and as a result, they turn to crime.

“Many of the suspects steal because they have lost their livestock and want to restart farming. Many young people desire contemporary stuff, yet they are unemployed, therefore, they commit crimes. Others steal to sell biltong or dried meat to street vendors, particularly in Outjo and Kamanjab,” said Ruiter.

Since the very beginning, livestock has been the economic backbone of most Kunene farmers. Nevertheless, authorities in the region have reported an increase in livestock theft, which is now threatening community livelihoods on top of the recurring drought.

Some farmers who spoke to Nampa in Etanga, approximately 100 kilometres north of Opuwo, said stock theft has had a detrimental influence on their lives as the cattle are their sole means of existence. 

Chief Vemuii Tjambiru of the Kakurukouje Traditional Authority was amongst many who decried livestock theft, stating that it is impossible to police stock theft since most of the region lacks borderlines to prevent the free movement of livestock from one constituency to another.

He, too, supported Ruiter’s comment that the lack of formal education and the high unemployment rate among young people are factors in stock theft.

The region’s police have been under growing pressure to tighten security and reduce the increase in stock theft, which includes outsiders from other regions.

The most prominent areas for stock theft, according to Ruiter, are Omakange, Outjo, Okonjota, Okorosave, Okapembapu, and Ohandungu, where goats, donkeys, and cattle have been reported stolen.

He said the police were able to apprehend a large number of these culprits, as well as retrieve some of the stolen livestock.

According to police records, 172 incidences of theft of livestock have been reported to the Kunene police in the last eight months. The region itself has reported over 1 600 cases across the board. -Nampa