ONGWEDIVA – The Police Regional Commander in the Oshikoto Region Commissioner Naomi Katjiua said setting up police roadblocks in informal areas, including villages is perfectly legal.
Police in the Oshikoto Region mounted several mobile roadblocks in various villages in the region, with the aim to educate and to save lives during the festive season, when there was a high influx of people to the northern regions, according Oshikoto Region’s head of police.
The move to mount police roadblocks on gravel roads in unproclaimed areas has generated a public outcry and unleashed a vigorous debate. Some people claim that it is wrong for police to set up road blocks in villages and to issue fines for infractions in un-proclaimed areas, especially in light of the fact that there are no road signs along the gravel roads in such areas.
Many people across Namibia keep un-roadworthy, but operational vehicles at villages or farms in order to fetch firewood and water or to carry out miscellaneous chores and necessarily to transport people or to use such vehicles on the national road network. This debate has been raging on several local radio stations where some callers claim to have been fined up to N$2000 for infractions committed on remote village roads. Katjiua however maintains that it is perfectly legal, since it is the duty of every driver using a vehicle to adhere to traffic regulations. The regional commander said rural roads are also deemed public roads and unlicensed drivers or vehicles that are not roadworthy also pose the same threat to animals, pedestrians and other motorists.
“Village roads are public roads, whether they are tarred or gravel roads. Private roads are farm roads and there you are not expected to harm pedestrians or animals and other vehicles, that is why we cannot fine a person driving inside a farm,” Katjiua explained.
She further maintained that anyone found guilty of contravening traffic rules on village roads is liable to pay a fine ranging between N$500 and N$2000. Well-known human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe agrees that village roadblocks are legal. According to Tjombe, there is nothing wrong in mounting roadblocks on rural roads, in accordance with the law.
“The infringement on the constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of movement is rather trivial for stopping at a roadblock for a few minutes for the vehicle to be checked for any defects, which defects could cause the loss of life and limb, compared to when the police search your home without a warrant. The Police Act entitles the police to set up roadblocks on any public road, but should always ensure that the searches conducted at such roadblocks are not excessively intrusive and that the person concerned is informed of the objectives of the search. Accordingly, I believe that roadblocks are in general lawful,” said Tjombe.
By Helvy Shaanika