Omusati region is facing a serious challenge of lack of facilities to house trial awaiting inmates across the region. 

This was revealed by Omusati regional governor Erginus Endjala in his state of the region address on Wednesday. 

There are currently 480 inmates awaiting trial, who are incarcerated in holding cells across the region, a huge number, given that the holding cells can only accommodate 309 inmates, a difference of 171.

“Crime rate has escalated in the region, hence the high number of prisoners,” Endjala explained. 

He further stated that the region, which shares borders with neighbouring Angola, has reported 4 079 criminal cases so far, compared to a staggering 4 686 cases in 2021, emphasising that most criminal activities happen around the border post areas such as Okapalelona and Omahenene.

In his speech, the governor lamented the lack of proper border controls as a catalyst for criminal activities, citing that there is a lot of smuggling of counterfeit goods from Angola into Namibia, such as alcohol, fuel and medicines.

“We are asking the authorities responsible for our borders to put up tight measures to curb smuggling of goods into the country,” Endjala said.

Stock theft, housebreaking, rape and suicides are some of the cases increasingly worrying in the region.

There are 71 reported cases of rape in the region this year, compared to 85 reported the previous year, a difference of 16%. 

During the same period, 70 suicide cases have been reported, and 41 people have drowned so far in the region, of those, three people have been reported to have drowned in the Calueque-Oshakati canal.

-vkaapanda@npc.com.na