2017-08-02Staff Report 2 Nuusita Ashipala Ongwediva-A member of the Women and Men Network Against Crime in Onesi Constituency in Omusati Region wants the police to launch a second investigation into how his motor vehicle was bumped by a police van last November, while ferrying two suspects. Lisias Nashilongo said the Prosecutor-General (PG) had ruled that none of the two drivers should be prosecuted, but he wants the decision overturned and a new investigation initiated. Nashilongo claims the police investigations misrepresented what actually transpired at the scene at Omalyadhila village in Onesi Constituency, resulting in a shoddy investigation. “Even the images in possession of the police are not really taken from where the accident happened, hence I am requesting for another team of investigators to handle the matter,” he insisted. Nashilongo, who was asked by the police to assist two suspects who allegedly broke into bars at three villages in Onesi Constituency, has now been left to repair the damage to his car all by himself. The quotation he got for the repairs is about N$300,000. He said the police requested him to drive his car with one of the police officers to track down the suspects in an area, where the suspects were believed to be holed up. The police had said driving a police van would scare off the suspects. “They arrived twenty minutes later and were arrested. The arrangement was that we call for back-up if we found them. However, there was no network and we decided to drive back. On the way back we met with the police van. I came to a standstill when I saw the van, but the van drove straight into my vehicle,” Nashilongo recalled. He says he had his headlights on at the time, but the police van that rammed into his Jeep had its switched off. Nashilongo is now pleading with the police to assist him repair to his car, because it was bumped while he was on duty, as he is involved in community policing. He said he has since referred his case to the Inspector-General of the Namibian police, Sebastian Ndeitunga, but has for the past two weeks not received any response from the police chief. Ndeitunga said the complaint only reached his office last week and remarked that it was premature for Nashilongo to run to the media. “His case was thrown away by the prosecutor-general and I took it upon myself and established a committee to see how we can assist him, because he was assisting the police, despite the PG’s advice,” Ndeitunga said. The police chief said although the PG dismissed the case, he felt the need to see how he can assist Nashilongo to encourage the men and women network to continue fighting crime. 2017-08-02Staff Report 2
