WINDHOEK– The secretary general of the opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress Youth League (RDPYL), Monica Nambelela, wants the Police Child Protection Unit to launch a thorough investigation into the death of a 4-year-old toddler killed while in police custody in Wanaheda just over a week ago.
“We want to know how the police could have [committed] this mistake of allowing children to be exposed to a violence-filled environment in prisons,” she said in a press statement issued last week Wednesday. “It is a well-known fact that no child deserves to be behind bars as it is not the ideal environment for a child to grow up in,” she added. She says what happened amounted to a disgraceful and unlawful arrest by the police and must be rejected totally. The RDPYL is demanding that all those involved in this type involved in the bureaucratic negligence should be brought to book. “The nation needs clarity pertaining to how many more children in all the regions are behind bars with their mothers and how long some of those children have been in custody,” said the RDPYL secretary general. “This is an unacceptable practice that endangers the safety of all children,” Nambelela said. She called on the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Rosalia Nghidinwa to table the long overdue draft child justice bill. “We believe that the bill will address critical issues such as the prevention of detention and prosecution of children under the age of 10 years and allow for the separation of juveniles from adult detainees and those of the opposite sex,” said Nambelela. In a related development Nampa reported that the leadership of the Church Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) last week Thursday said it is shocked by the death of a four-year-old boy in the Wanaheda Police Station holdings cells.
Fortuna Tenete died last Thursday as a result of an alleged brutal assault by a female inmate in the holding cells where the boy was held with his mother, Kaarina Mateus.
CAFO strongly condemned the manner in which the Wanaheda police officers handled the case of the deceased boy’s mother prior to the tragic incident.
“The death of a child is one loss too many. It sadly reflects on how the rights of vulnerable children who are unable to speak for themselves, are negated. It is a direct contravention of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Namibia is a signatory,” CAFO Executive Director Dr Henry Platt said in a media statement availed to Nampa on Thursday.
Platt condemned the conditions under which the death of the boy took place, saying the police holding cells are no place for innocent young children. “In the past the deplorable conditions in our prisons have been brought to the attention of the relevant authorities. Children should get the protection they are guaranteed to have. It is clear that the Namibian government’s prison system failed to protect little Fortuna.
By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa