Live ammunition was found early this week and buried at the Lizauli area of Mulikete in the Zambezi region. The police on Monday detonated the ammunition, which was discovered by Nored employees who were clearing business in the area.
Deputy Commissioner Joseph Nehemia, who is responsible for operations in Zambezi, confirmed the discovery yesterday. “The workers from Nored were working and they found the live ammunition. They were not buried that deep. The workers were only clearing the bush. They reported the matter to the police and the police acted,” he said.
“When we went there, we took the ammunition and brought them to the police station. We warned them not to continue until the police clears the area with an explosive detector machine. The police went to clear the area yesterday and it is now safe for them to work.” He added the police will destroy the live ammunition, and they cautioned community members to report any suspicious object and not try to touch them. Asked if there is any information on the origin of the ammunition, Zambezi police regional commander Karel Theron said: “We can’t suspect anything or anyone. It is something that was just found while Nored people were working to put up electric poles. The ammunition is very old. There is no need to panic. The reason we said the community should not go ahead with any work there was to give the NDF and our members a chance to sweep the whole area so that it is safe and clean for people to continue with their work.”
In an unrelated incident, the members of the special field force and Impalila police operational members over the weekend intercepted a syndicate involved in the alleged plundering of natural resources in Zambezi by Zambian and Congolese nationals.
“We had a joint operation when we intercepted Zambian and Namibian nationals who were about to cross the Zambezi River into Zambia via a speed boat. The police approached them and the suspects told the police that they were crossing through Zambia to sell fish in DRC,” Nehemia stated.
The three suspects – two Zambians and a Namibian – were caught with a bunch of catfish, which were caught using monofilament gill nets and bashing.
He added dried fish is being smuggled from Namibia through Zambia and sold at a high price in the Democratic Republic of Congo at Katumbalesha.
The suspects were arrested and charged for contravening Section 50, 11 (3); Section 22 (3) (9) and Section 21 (1) (3) (b) of Inland Fisheries Resources Act No 1 of 2003. The three suspects appeared in the Ngoma Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The Namibian national was granted bail of N$1 000 and the case was postponed to 5 October 2020 for further investigations. The others remain in police custody. The Namibian suspect is a 44-year-old Albert Sinkumbwa, while the Zambians are Abraham Saimon (43) and Susan Chilambwe (43).
- anakale@nepc.com.na