ONGWEDIVA - Martha Kanyemba, 34, who made news in September when she was arrested for smuggling drugs into the Oluno Correctional Facility, was last month shown the door and dismissed from her work.

“All due processes were followed: she appeared before a departmental disciplinary enquiry, which found her guilty; hence, she is no longer with us,” confirmed the Assistant Commissioner, who is also the officer in charge of the Oluno Correctional Facility, Veikko Armas.

Kanyemba, a prison guard at the time, was arrested for allegedly smuggling 19 mandrax tablets valued at N$ 2850, 210 grams of dagga valued at N$ 2100, four cellphones, as well as cigarette lighters and two sim cards.
The items were found in her handbag during an operation, early morning when she was reporting for duty. The facility was alerted of her illicit activities.

Kanyemba currently faces charges of dealing in drugs or being in possession of cannabis and mandrax. She is out on bail of N$ 4000.

Armas said the facility is hard at work to curb contrabands from being brought into the facility.
Smuggling of contraband to the offenders defies the purpose of rehabilitating the offenders, so he urged the correctional officers to refrain from such practices.

In addition, in ensuring the safety and well-being of the inmates, Armas said the facility is determined to root out all the bad apples from the facility.

“Correctional Officers who indulge in illegal facilities should not be part of the team; our prime purpose here should be to ensure and implement programmes aimed at rehabilitating the offenders,” Armas said.