Selma Ikela
Windhoek
A Greenwell Matongo woman had her home almost cleaned out by thieves who only left her with a few items, including a stove and the beds for her two children. The stolen items are valued at N$100,000.
Amusingly, the thieves cooked spaghetti and meat during the break-in, an indication that they had ample time to steal, said the homeowner Helga Kaimbi. The thieves then had ice cream for dessert.
Kaimbi had travelled to Tsumeb on Tuesday to visit her parents when she received a call on Thursday morning that her home was open and it seemed there was a break-in. There was no one at home during the time of the incident. The break-in occurred between 01h00 and 06h00 on Thursday morning.
According to the Namibian Police Force spokesperson, Inspector Pendukeni Haikali, six suspects from Greenwell Matongo, including a female who is a girlfriend to one of the suspects, were arrested. Of the six suspects, four are siblings and the stolen items were found in their house.
Haikali advised Kaimbi and her neighbours to form a neighbourhood watch to mitigate the crime.
After she was informed about the break-in, Kaimbi immediately travelled back to Windhoek and found her house in a mess. “They basically took everything. They took my clothes, all my children’s clothing, and a digital camera with lenses. They took all my flat shoes and left the heels,” said Kaimbi, adding that the thieves left a stove, two sets of couches and two beds belonging to her children.
“I was devastated but then I was comforted that there were suspects and some of the items were recovered,” she added. She commended the police for swiftly arresting the suspects.
According to Detective Sergeant Olga Kujendani from Wanaheda Police Station, the police recovered the stolen items within two hours of the break-in. Kujendani said they got a tip off from a neighbour who saw people carrying a deep freezer from Kaimbi’s residence. Kujendani added that the first time the thieves broke in, they hid the items in a riverbed and from the riverbed, they proceeded to carry the items to a certain house in Tolla Street.