Stefanus Nambara
NKURENKURU - A piece of land that was fenced off years back, initially for the construction of the Nkurenkuru Intermediate Hospital in Kavango West region, has now been turned into a kraal for stolen cattle by stock thieves.
In 2014, the ministry of health held a groundbreaking ceremony at Nkurenkuru
for the construction of the region’s intermediate hospital.
Although the site was fenced off, the envisioned project is far from becoming a reality, as no activity has taken place at the site and it has been overgrown by bush.
The police indicated that between June 2021 to July 2023, a total of 114 stock-theft cases were reported in the region.
Of the reported cases, 226 involved goats, 112 of which were recovered and 486 cattle were stolen, and only 139 recovered.
Police in the region said stock thieves are now taking advantage of the situation, and keeping the stolen cattle inside the fence enclosure while looking for potential
buyers.
“You can see they have vandalised the fence. They have cut it from top to bottom for them to drive the cattle in, then they pull it together and tie it back with a piece of wire,” said NamPol’s head of crime investigations division for Kavango West, Abner Agas.
He said last Thursday, the police recovered 26 stolen cattle inside the fenced area and the owners were successfully located.
He said the law enforcement agents stumbled on the cattle hidden inside the fence as they were investigating a case of cattle stolen from Kakuro village and allegedly driven to a farm on the outskirts of Nkurenkuru.
“When we were investigating that incident, we came across cattle that were inside the fence and that made us suspicious because we know the site is locked with a padlock. There is no way cattle could enter the enclosure on their own, so somebody must have brought them there,” Agas said.
He said due to the fenced off area’s vast size and overgrown vegetation, it is difficult to spot livestock that are inside the fence.
The police have appealed to the health ministry to consider de-bushing the area.
“If they cannot raise funds to de-bush this area, we can assist with a de-bushing operation. This is where we involve all stakeholders; the police, NDF, youth and we have women and men network as
well. Together we can de-bush this area to prevent it being used as a hideout,” said the region’s police commander, Julia Sakuwa-Neo. The police said this time of the year, when people have harvested their crops, cases of stock-theft in the region hit peak because people leave livestock to roam freely grazing on crop stalks and
residues.
Some people do not even round up the cattle to pen them in kraals for the night. Rustlers take advantage of this to steal the cattle, police said urging community members to look after their livestock.
“I plead with the communities to at least employ cattle herders or have someone looking after these cattle so that at night the cattle can be rounded up and kept in the kraals. That way we’ll not give criminals the opportunity to steal, you’ll also be helping us.
“I’ll always say the police cannot be at each and every corner of this area, […] you need to help us by at least playing your part,” pleaded Sakuwa-Neo.