The Hitman in police brutality saga

Written by Patience Nyangove

Thursday, 24 September 2009

WORLD Light Weight Champion, NamPol Inspector Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses allegedly severely assaulted a defenceless Katutura man with clenched fists and booted feet last week causing damage to the victim’s kidneys.



The Hitman allegedly assaulted Semy Mupupa of Greenwell Matongo in Eileen Street after a soldier was stabbed on the shoulder during a scuffle on Monday.

Mupupa has since opened a case of police brutality against Hitman, under case number CR478/09/09 with Wanaheda police station.

Chief Inspector Andreas Nelumbu confirmed that a case of Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) was opened against some police officers, including Hitman.

A medical report from Katutura Hospital shows that Mupupa’s kidneys were damaged as a result of the kicks and his left side is now numb. He has cuts below his right eye, left shoulder and hips.

Mupupa alleges his nightmare began on September 12 when he escorted his friend Simon to Evelyn Street to look for his young brother at around 19h30.

He says they heard gun shots about 30 metres from where they were standing before people came running towards them.

He further alleges that when they enquired about what was going on, they were informed that a police officer and a Namibian Defence Force member allegedly wanted to rob one of the school boys of his jewellery at Special Inns bar and a fight broke out leading to the owner of the bar opening fire.

Simon, according to Mupupa, joined the mob in which his brother was part of and stabbed the NDF soldier on the shoulder.

The soldier then called for help and officers among them a NamPol officer known only as Hafeni came to his rescue.

Mupupa said Hafeni who was drunk took out his pistol but could not use it giving Simon and his brother time to run away.

“Since I knew I had not done anything wrong, I did not run away. Simon was later arrested around 04h00 on Sunday.

“On Monday between 8am and 9am seven armed uniformed NamPol officers came looking for me. The officers came out of their car pointing guns at us. We were playing cards at a shebeen in Eileen Street together with Benji Ulenga,” said Mupupa.

He said the officers were asking who Semy was while one of them grabbed Ulenga by the collar of his shirt.

“Scared, Benji pointed at me. When I asked which Semy they were looking for that’s when the Hitman started punching, slapping and kicking me while I was seated. After beating me up I was handcuffed and the Hitman kicked me on the chest and the left side of my neck and I fell down,” Mupupa said adding that he then fell down and other junior officers assaulted him.

He further alleged that he was bundled into The Hitman’s golf car (N6662W) and went about rounding up the school boys aged 13 – 16 involved in Saturday’s scuffle.

After rounding up the boys, another officer driving a blue golf (N13195W) pepper sprayed the suspects after asking whether these were the people who had beaten up the police and had said this was not their Government.

Mupupa said the officer instructed them to look at him with their faces uncovered and eyes open while he pepper sprayed them.

“Dizzy and in pain, they took us to Wanaheda Police Station. One of the boys who had a mobile phone called his mother, a police officer. The mother contacted Chief Inspector Nelumbu who was not aware of such an operation. We were released and the police officers who assaulted us apologised.”

When contacted for comment the Hitman accused this reporter of working in cahoots with Mupupa to fabricate the story.

“We don’t beat up people, we only arrest them. Maybe, it’s you and that person who are making this up. Why are you judging me? Are you the magistrate? You are very wrong. This is none of your business. You have no right to phone me, never phone me again. I don’t want to talk to you anymore,” the Hitman said.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) prohibits its members from fighting people who are not boxers.

- Informante7@tgi.na

The struggle for survival on ARVs

Written by Patience Nyangove

Thursday, 24 September 2009

IMAGINE being a single HIV positive parent with two young children who look up to you for everything, no food in the house and no source of income.



Worse still, with no hope as to what you will eat before and after you take your life-prolonging Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs) and let alone feed your minor children who, because of hunger, are in tears.

While to many the coming of a new day is always a symbol of the goodness of life -another chance to start afresh - for you it’s now nothing more than a reminder of your daily struggles to bring food to your table and struggle another day.

Deep inside your heart is the cry for your children who are also bearing the brunt of your hardships. This is not some script taken out of a novel, but it is only a short clip of what happens in the life of Foibe Kangumbe from Ondangwa whose story is no different from many other Namibians who, because of being HIV positive and living in knee high poverty each day, face an eternal struggle to survive.

Speaking to Informante last week in Windhoek, Kangumbe, who was attending a week’s training on proposal writing organised by the Social Marketing Association, said her husband of 12 years dumped her when she was sick and pregnant with their second child.

“I struggled to make ends meet after my husband left me. I had to struggle to get money for food for my other child and myself. When I had gone to the antenatal clinic that’s when I was told at the hospital that I was HIV positive. I have struggled to run around to raise my kids and up to now I am still struggling. In 2007 I went to the court to get my ex-husband to pay N$150 maintenance for our children’s up keep but he has failed to do so up to now.

“The children are not going to school because I can’t afford to pay the tuition; there is no food for my children and myself. My ex -husband is working but he does not want to help us,” Kangumbe painfully said.

The mother of two said because of lack of money in most cases she fails to go and collect her ARVs on time at the local hospital which is quite far from where she lives.

Kangumbe’s case is just a microcosm of the challenges people living with HIV are facing in Namibia.

A snap survey by Informanté revealed that most of them face problems ranging from income for general upkeep, cost of transport to and from hospitals and most of all stigma from society.

Twenty-five year-old Johannes Maseka from Rundu, who has been living positively with the HIV virus for the past three years says despite the massive awareness campaigns to conscientise people that HIV and Aids is a disease like any other, people were still stigmatising and discriminating those who openly reveal their HIV status.

Maseka says since he openly disclosed his status people in his community are now stigmatising him.

“My sister, people are discriminating me where I live. Some people don’t want to be close to me while, for instance, every time there are community meetings if I am late some will start shouting once they see me coming that I am late because I was taking my ARVs.”

Maseka, a married man, said apart from stigmatisation and discrimination his other greatest problem was transport to go and collect his ARVs at the hospital.

“Getting to the hospital to get my ARV drugs is a very big problem since I am not working. I have to ask for money from my parents every time I have to travel and sometimes they won’t have the money,” he said.

Nicolene, who preferred to give only her first name, has been living with HIV in Windhoek for the past 12 years. She says besides a lack of taxi money to go and collect drugs from Katutura Hospital she also has to deal with the long queues at the hospital.

“We have problems with transport money to go and collect our ARVs at the hospital while at times we fail to raise the N$15 the hospital charges for the drugs. Some of us stay very far while others are bed ridden. When we eventually get to the hospital we have to deal with long queues from the reception, to the doctor and to the pharmacy and in most cases we would not have eaten anything as we wake up early so as to beat the long queues and because of that we end up not taking our medication.”

Those entrusted with assisting people in Nicolene’s condition have also tended to take advantage of their situation.

Ebnesia Mauno (33) from Keetmanshoop who was diagnosed with the HIV virus some seven years ago says besides having to deal with stigma, volunteers at HIV and Aids non-governmental organisations were not being supportive.

“There is too much discrimination from the organisations that deal with people living with HIV and Aids. On Wednesdays, we are supposed to get a meal at the centre but they deny us that food and feed us once a month instead. Last time, blankets came which were meant for us but the volunteers ended up taking them leaving us with nothing. Our greatest problem is volunteers are not supportive while we people living with the HIV are not getting the benefits,” she said sadly.

Director of the Namibia Network of Aids Service Organisations Michael Mulondo concurred with the people living with HIV on the transport and food problems they face.

Mulondo also said a great number of people living with HIV don’t have access to food and nutrition.

“When you take ARVs, it enhances one’s appetite and one needs to eat a lot. There is a programme where they get Energy-pap to last them say two-three months however because of food problems other members of the family end up also eating that pap. However some NGOs like the Social Marketing Association have started some income generating projects in some areas like gardening to try and empower these people.”

Mulondo said another problem people living with HIV face was that some health institutions were not male friendly.

“It’s much easier for a woman to know her status through the anti-natal clinics. Men don’t access that same service. After the woman gets tested, she goes back home with her ARVs and out of sheer ignorance she shares some of her drugs with her male partner who can’t access the drugs and the drugs end up being not enough to last her a whole month and she ends up defaulting.

“NGOs have to educate the public on the need to adhere to what the doctors tell them. Although no official research has been conducted on this, these issues are always being talked about, people have to be educated on how ARVs work and how to use them,” Mulondo said.

Mulondo also said because of the long distances between health centres and where some people live especially in the rural areas others end up defaulting after they fail to get transport money.

According to the Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV and Aids in Namibia compiled in 2008 they are an estimated 200,000 people living with HIV in the country.

UNAids says HIV and Aids prevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal care was 19.7% at the end of 2004 and at 19.9% at the end of 2006.

The UN body says a greater burden of the epidemic falls on women with women who become infected at a younger age account for more than 50% of all reported HIV infections.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services estimates that 40,000 people living with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy, however access remains an issue due to a sparsely distributed population and long distance that people living with HIV need to cover to get to the next health facility.

Amateur boxer shot in Greenwell Matongo

Written by Patience Nyangove

Thursday, 24 September 2009

AN 18-year-old amateur boxer was allegedly shot in both legs by the owner of Special Inns bar in Greenwell Matongo, Katutura.

George Shilunga, who is also a Polytechnic of Namibia student, has since opened a criminal case against Simon Nambahu whose bar is located along Eveline Street.

Shilumba, who now uses crutches, is awaiting more tests to confirm whether he can fully recover to go into the ring again.

Shilunga said he was standing about 40 metres from Special Inns bar watching people fighting two weeks ago when Nambahu came out shooting randomly.

“People started running in all directions. I also ran trying to hide somewhere safe. While I was running, my jeans started to feel heavy and I went into another bar only to notice that I had been shot. A taxi driver took me to the hospital.”

When contacted for comment Nambahu professed ignorance over the shooting before he hung up.

“I don’t know anything about what you are talking about. If you say there are people who have told you about this case go to them,” Nambahu said.

A witness, Moses Joseph, said Nambahu together with his side kick Omupundja who also had a gun opened fire at random.

“As the shots were being fired, there were sparks of fire all over.”

- informante7@tgi.na

Father says maintenance law sexist

Written by Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 24 September 2009

A Klein Windhoek man has accused Katutura Magistrate Court for allegedly discriminating against men who claim maintenance from their ex-wives.



Antony Daniel says his ex-wife Juliana Daniel nee Swartz was ordered on January 11 2007 to pay N$400 towards the upkeep of their three children who live with the father but until now she has been defaulting.

The law, Daniel says, is silent but if it was a man who had defaulted he would have long been arrested.

Daniel alleges that some prosecutors at Katutura Magistrate Court have accused him of being unprincipled by claiming maintenance from a woman.

“What bothers me more is the system. The case has been postponed several times and the judiciary is not doing anything to help me. A lot of men who have defaulted on their payments are in jail for that but she just gets reprimanded and gets her own way.

“The law should be fair to both men and women. Why should they be more special treatment for her when they are also men in jail who do not work and fail to pay maintenance?

“They have asked me why when I earn enough money, I want to get money from a woman. There is still much sexism at the courts of law. Men like me don’t get recognition. They are very perverse.”

Prosecutor General Olyvia Martha Imalwa said the law does not discriminate between men and women but treats them equally.

“The law doesn’t discriminate between men and women because all of them have an obligation to support their children. By law, that woman is obliged to pay maintenance for the up keep of her children. If she fails to pay prosecutors have to send summons and the case goes to trial,” she said.

Imalwa said no prosecutor or any one had the right to tell another person that he or she can’t claim maintenance on gender grounds because they was no such law. - Informante7@tgi.na

Ngurare accuses Rev. Konjore of womanising while youth suffer

Written by Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 17 September 2009

WITH a few weeks remaining before the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, intra-Swapo foes are at each other’s throats with the youth wing leader Elijah Ngurare accusing veteran clergyman and youth minister of employing girlfriends and relatives, wining and dining while the youth suffer.

Swapo Youth League Secretary Ngurare charged that Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture Minister, Willem Konjore, is having an excellent taste of fancy dress, giving jobs to his girlfriends and relatives, wining and dining while Namibia’s youth suffer.

Konjore immediately dismissed Ngurare’s allegations as “falsehoods aimed at tarnishing his image” and unseating him as minister.

“Which jobs did I give to my relatives or girlfriends? I only joined this Ministry in April 2008. It’s untrue. There is nothing like that. Ngurare is trying to make a story to smear my name and tarnish my character.”

In an interview yesterday at the Swapo Headquarters, Ngurare also accused Konjore of being a failure.

“I have never seen him out there. All he ever does is to dress nicely, eat, drink, be pampered, enjoy being chauffer-driven and sitting in his air conditioned office and employing his cousins, sisters and girlfriends. It’s wrong. It’s bad. I don’t think you get into public office to serve your relatives,” Ngurare said.

Ngurare said although there are plans to relocate the “struggle kids” camped at the party headquarters, no action has been taken because Konjore was just seating doing nothing when decisions were made long ago.

“The Ministry of Youth has failed to implement the decisions taken. There is a committee which is made up of different other ministries including defence, education, gender, safety, agriculture and Swapo. What has it become? It’s become a talk shop where people go to the youth ministry to wine and dine, drink coffee with cookies. It’s a waste. I do not want to be part of that. Why should I just go there and have coffee in a Government mug?

“Konjore has failed. We want a new person to be minister,” he said.

Ngurare also accused Konjore of looking down upon people who voted him into power.

“We are not happy if you are appointed to serve the people and you look down upon those same people. Don’t be macho and master and look down upon those who put you there.

“He only likes to be driven around, get S&T (subsistence and travel allowances) and given nice things. Why is it when he visits places like Kunene he can’t sleep at the homesteads of the electorate? It’s like George Orwell’s synopsis that all animals are equal but some are more equal,” Ngurare charged.

When contacted for comment Konjore refuted Ngurare’s allegations describing them as mere falsehoods to tarnish his image.

Konjore said if Ngurare was aspiring to be the youth minister or wanted someone else to take over the job, he should do so using a different way rather than doing it through spreading falsehoods against him.

“If he understands what to look down upon people means, Ngurare should know that although he might be the judge he is not the only person who is looking at me. There are many people coming into my office who know I am not looking down upon them.

“I would like Ngurare to know that if he or knows somebody who is aspiring to be the Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, there could be a different way rather than do it through newspaper articles to achieve their goals.

“In the past, I didn’t want to substantiate these newspaper articles because I don’t want to stoop so low discussing Government and party issues through the media. It’s too low. It’s not professional and respectful,” he said.

Konjore said the bone of contention between him and Ngurare started when he (Konjore) refused to sign a letter Ngurare had written instructing him to authorise the relocation of the struggle kids to a farm in Oshikoto.

“I did not sign that letter because it stated that the technical committee had made the decision to relocate those children when it’s not that technical committee or ministerial committee but Cabinet which has the power to make such decisions and this apparently is one of my greatest sins to Ngurare which finally angered him.”

Struggle kids at party H/Q living in appalling conditions

Written by Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 17 September 2009

TWO hundred and sixty struggle kids camped at the Swapo party headquarters in Katutura for a year now have no toilets and are using the bush to relieve themselves.

Informanté established last week that the “struggle kids” have turned the surrounding bushes into ‘ablution facilities’ because they only have access to one toilet in the guard room.

They bath in plastic shelters with little privacy while less than three metres away, others cook in the open next to heaps of garbage where flies have made a permanent home.

They also cook in dirty tins because they do not have decent pots and pans.

A strong stench of human waste from the bush coupled with dirty stagnant water from laundry, bathing and washing of utensils now greets visitors to the party headquarters.

“We bath in the open save for the plastics we use for privacy. For toilets, we use the bush mostly,” said Emily Sam (26) who has a nine-month old daughter, Monica.

Sam says because of extreme poverty and deplorable living conditions, she is contemplating giving away her daughter for adoption.

“I don’t have any food to give her. I am starving. It’s now five months since I came here. When Swapo brings food once a month, it’s won’t even last a week. Those who are weak like us won’t even get it. Besides using the bush as toilets and bathing in the open, we also sleep in crowded tents. We can be between 10 and 20 in a single tent.”

Twenty-eight year old Shilongo Ndeshihafela said the health situation at the campsite was so terrible that if action is not taken quickly there could be a major disease outbreak.

“We are suffering my dear. We are camping here but there is no toilet and bathroom. There are about 268 of us here. I have resorted to selling some food stuff to raise money to buy food. There is just no food. Swapo doesn’t give us any food,” she said.

She further declared that despite the inhuman conditions they are living under, they are going to stay put at the offices until their demands are met.

“We are going to stay put even after the elections. We do not have Namibian identification papers so we can’t look for employment and the Government has to help us.”

Another 28 year-old, Shimakeleni Wilika feels that because of the terrible living conditions she was not going to vote.

“I am not going to vote. How can I vote for a Government that has made promises after promises but never deliver?” She asked.

Chairperson of the “struggle kids” Salomon Shinedima said the Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, once inspected the health situation at the campsite but never did anything to ease their dire situation.

“We should be provided with pails at least, mobile toilets and bathrooms. We have been patient for long. However, God is with us. We have lived under extreme difficult situations before. It was much worse at the farm. It was exactly like (this) when we were in exile.

“We have been asking for better conditions but no progress has been made but rather they keep on promising us not to worry. We can’t go back to where we came from. It’s too painful. All we want is employment,” he said.

Shinedima said although Swapo gives them food handouts, it would not last a whole month leaving them to survive on the mercy of well-wishers.

“Swapo gives us food only when they want and in most cases it only lasts us two weeks and once it’s finished, we have to struggle to survive,” he said.

A World Health Organisation official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Namibia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services has not approached them for humanitarian assistance for the “struggle kids”.

Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services, Petrina Haingura also said management at the Swapo headquarters had not approached them for assistance.

“We just can’t go as the Ministry of Health and Social Services to the Swapo headquarters because that building belongs to somebody. If a need is identified, we will take action and if discussion is initiated, we will take it up as the health ministry,” said Haingura who is also secretary of the Swapo Women’s Council.

Swapo Youth League Secretary Elijah Ngurare said the health situation at his party headquarters was very serious and everyone within the Swapo leadership was concerned.

“The living conditions are not the best but what can we do these kids are insisting on staying here. We can’t call the Ministry of Health because the other struggle kids will accuse us of favouring this group, they will ask us why these youth should be more entitled to special treatment.

“It’s a sad situation maybe the police should move them out, I just don’t know, maybe we should get nurses here, they are children being born here. It’s a distressing situation and for us that work here it’s very difficult we are stuck here. If they are people with better solutions they should help out,” Ngurare said.

Swapo women retrogress, most at bottom of list

Written by Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 17 September 2009

“There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard. There cannot be true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own lives” - Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State

SINCE attaining independence in 1990, Namibia has made great strides in ensuring that more women enter into politics and occupy decision making positions, however this time around the ruling Swapo party has failed dismally to ensure that Namibian women get a fair share of the cake as their male counterparts.

Looking at the Swapo party’s list of candidates to the National Assembly as “elected” at the Electoral College for the November National Assembly elections one would be forgiven to think that this is still the late 70s and the early 80s when women’s roles were defined as those of mere housewives or perennial backbenchers for those that make it into politics.

Although figuratively speaking Swapo managed to meet SADC’s (Southern African Development Community’s) 30% quota, it does not need a gender guru or a rocket scientist to conclude that placing the majority of women at the bottom positions narrows their chances of making it into the National Assembly let alone Cabinet which currently only has six women.

On the Swapo list released on September 5 after the party’s Electoral College, only two women namely Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, current Swapo Party Secretary General and Minister of Justice and Petrina Haingura, Secretary of the Swapo Women’s Council and Deputy Minister of Health, have made it to the top 20 of the Swapo list. Iivula-Ithana occupies an impressive number two position while Haingura is at a comfortable number eight position.

Besides Iivula-Ithana and Haingura, other women comfortably positioned are Doreen Sioka presently the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila the Minister of Finance, at numbers 23 and 24 respectively. The rest are between 50 and 72.

In the 2004 elections, Swapo secured 55 seats in the National Assembly and if the same scenario has to repeat itself this year, it will mean that all the women listed below 55 would automatically be out of the race.

With a new party in the running for elections, the Rally for Progress and Democracy (RDP) no one really knows what the outcome will be. Should the opposition parties get more seats than the combined 17 they currently, it will mean that Swapo will seriously fall behind SADC’s prescribed representation.

In 1997 SADC countries declared that of all political candidates who stand for elections should be 30% women while those appointed to decision-making structures should also comprise 30% women. However, most countries in the region have failed dismally to meet their quota.

SADC also recently committed itself to achieving 50% women representation across all sectors by 2015, however, only time will tell whether they will achieve this feat after failing miserably to meet the 30% over a decade after agreeing to abide by it.

According to a Guide to Namibian Politics by Graham Hopwood, the 2008 Edition, only one level of the Namibian Government had passed the 30% mark when women’s representation in local authorities reached 43%.

During the 2004 elections, party lists for councils with 10 or fewer members had to include at least three women while lists for larger councils had to feature five women.

However, Hopwood further says equivalent measures were not been introduced for other elections.

At the regional level in 2004, only 12 out of 107 regional councillors were women (11%) and only three of the 13 regional governors were women.

In the National Assembly election of the same year, 21 out of the 78 members were women. This translates to 27% - three percent short of the 30%.

Currently only six women including the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Dr Libertina Amathila are full Cabinet members out of 21 men who also make part of the 27-member Cabinet.

If the Swapo list is anything to go by, it looks as if the Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah who is number 55 and Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Marlene Mungunda, seating at 63 - nine places from the bottom - might not find their way back into Cabinet again or possibly in the National Assembly.

Head of the Gender Unit at the University of Namibia, Michael Konde, says he is disappointed with Swapo’s list where most women occupy the bottom positions as it is a setback on the 50-50 women-men representation they are fighting for.

“Swapo being the ruling party commands a general following and hence if Swapo sneezes the nation catches a cold. They should have been the ones spearheading this campaign for having more women in the National Assembly. It’s worrisome that we might not achieve the 50% quota because most of the other parties even if they field a lot of women candidates, they will be defeated by Swapo.

“Swapo’s list is a big slap and a step backwards in terms of women upliftment,” he said.

Women’s Action for Development Director, Veronica de Klerk says the positioning of women on party lists, which will determine their role in decision-making in Government, remains an enormous challenge for them and their performance to earn credibility and respect of their male counterparts.

De Klerk says women should also drop the “Pull Her Down” PHD syndrome through gossip and slandering each other in political circles when one of them makes it in the political world.

“Women themselves should be instrumental in identifying and voting for fellow-women who are capable to contribute meaningfully in Parliament. It is imperative that women should, therefore, stand together; work together; be proud of the each other’s achievements and have faith in one another’s abilities.”

De Klerk says she has witnessed the sad reality where women would rather vote for a man than for a woman because of jealousy or a lack of faith in women’s abilities to excel.

“WAD therefore, earnestly cautions that the so-called “Pull-Her-Down syndrome” among women is extremely dangerous for their advancement in society, because the more women fight among themselves, the longer men will continue to rule!”

Swapo secretary for women affairs Haingura defended her party’s Electoral College list saying names on the list were sent from each wing across the country and elections were held and everybody voted for candidates of their choice.

Haingura said the SADC 30% quota is only a protocol and Swapo does not have to abide by it.

“Each region sent a man and a woman and you can’t tell people who to vote for. It is not the end of the world. There is always next time,” she said.

Bogus healers reap where they don’t sow

Written by Patience Nyangove

Thursday, 10 September 2009

Unsuspecting members of the public are losing money to bogus witchdoctors operating in Windhoek. They claim that they have power to create wealth, reclaim lost love and recover stolen property, make someone win a court case, catch and remove thokoloshis, exorcise evil spirits that bring bad luck and help dull children to pass.



About a fortnight ago a Malawian woman lost N$2,000 to a bogus traditional healer who had promised her a harvest of N$20,000. Instead, the woman was given N$20,000 in fake notes. Efforts to get her money back proved fruitless when the healer started to evade her.

Informanté’s Patience Nyangove met Dr Mukanya who operates from the Single Quarters’ Shanghai Street and Dr Soko based in Greenwell Matongo opposite Kwasa Kwasa.

After arriving at Dr Mukanya’s corrugated metal shack, Informanté joined a mother and her daughter who were seeking medical help for the elder woman’s swollen leg.

This reporter could not help but eavesdrop on the pair’s conversation with Dr Mukanya’s aid who spoke Shona, a vernacular language in Zimbabwe.

The younger woman believing that this reporter was Namibian and could not understand the Shona language, asked the aid what was the purpose of the reporter’s visit, at which he answered that this reporter was greedy and wanted a lot of money.

From the conversation, I derived that it was the woman’s first time to seek Dr Mukanya’s services and she could hardly walk and had sought treatment from other healers but with no help.

After a few minutes a couple that was in consultation with Dr Mukanya left and the pair entered.

Eager to hear the prophesy, Informanté sat close the door on the pretext it was getting too hot where the reporter was seated.

The woman was advised to bring some cooking oil and N$300 dollars in form of N$100 bills as part of the cure. She promised to return on the following day.

Informanté went in and came face to face with Dr Mukanya who was seating on a chair partially obscured by a curtain dividing the room.

He enquired the purpose of the visit, this reporter told him that it was about getting rich.

The “spiritual healer” asked for N$30 consultation fees, which was put on a heap of some brown traditional medicine in plastic papers. After paying, he spoke in some weird language while consulting his small mirror ostensibly prophesying. A few minutes later, he said the reporter’s desires could be accomplished within seven days.

In order to achieve this, the healer said, the reporter had to pay N$1,500 for removing evil spirits hindering her chances of becoming one of Namibia’s richest women.

Although the reporter is not married, Dr Mukanya said she was.

He said there were evil spirits sent by jealousy people who did not want her rich, getting a job or having a happy marriage.

Suppressing a good laugh, the reporter enquired from the “spiritual healer” what action she had to take to get her life moving.

Speaking in some weird language and pointing into his mirror with a small knobkerrie, Dr Mukanya said:

“Every time you and your husband seem to be happy, a misunderstanding arises. I need to cleanse you first of these evil spirits then you can have money, you can get rich and for these services I require N$1,500,” he said.

After promising to return the next day with all the requirements I left.

Informanté also contacted Dr Soko of Greenwell Matongo opposite Kwasa-Kwasa.

Dr Soko’s consultation room, like Dr Mukanya’s was a corrugated room.

Dr Soko told the reporter that if she wanted to be rich, she should buy a tokoloshi that takes from other people.

He also suggested he could give this reporter herbal medicine which would allow her to take money from banks or shops.

Dr Soko said he needed time to consult a miracle performer but said he would roughly require about N$10,000 to make this reporter rich. We parted and promised to call him the next morning but when I did, Dr Soko developed cold feet ostensibly after recognising the Trustco logo on the car the reporter was travelling in.

“I am sorry my sister but I can not help you anymore because the person who was supposed to sell you the tokoloshi or the medicine to get you rich has run out of all those things,” Dr Soko said.

Refrain from traditional healers – Dr Kamwi

Written by Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 10 September 2009

MINISTER of Health and Social Services Dr Richard Kamwi has appealed to Namibians to shun visiting “traditional healers”.

Speaking after Informanté had appraised him on its investigation into the crooked ways of bogus traditional healers, Dr Kamwi said he “detests” what the healers are doing.

“I am appealing to Namibians to please refrain from going to ‘traditional healers’. These people are just here to rob Namibians, fellow Namibians should not listen to these bogus healers.

“I detest what they are doing. How can they claim to give someone wealth when they don’t even have a bicycle themselves or cure impotency when there are no people to show whom they have treated. These people also do not have work permits and should be reported to the Ministry of Home Affairs.”

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, Stephanus Mogotsi, said his Ministry has just embarked on a verification exercise to try and stamp out the bogus healers who are operating without work permits.

“These people have never applied for work permits to operate as traditional or spiritual healers here and hence they are operating illegally. They don’t apply for work permits because they come as visitors. They have never ever before applied for work permits. They come mostly from SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) countries misusing our immigration laws which waiver visas for them.

“Our officials will apprehend them as quickly as possible, by following up on the addresses they use when advertising in newspapers,” Mogotsi warned.

Sex workers scared of the police - LAC

Written by Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 10 September 2009

SEX workers are afraid of reporting alleged sexual violence against them by some police officers because they do not trust the force, Legal Assistance Centre director, Norman Tjombe said.



Tjombe’s comments come on the back drop of a report by the Open Society Institute which among other things accused the police of raping and sexually assaulting sex workers.

According to the report many sex workers interviewed during the compilation of the report claimed they had been raped and sexually assaulted by some police officers.

The report also alleges trans sex (men who dress as women and women who dress as men) workers have also been allegedly raped by the police.

According to Amor, a trans sex worker from Windhoek, the police first arrest them and demand sex.

“The police arrest us, beat us up and rape us. But you can’t do anything against it. They say you are a sex worker, what were you doing? I saw it happen to several of my sex worker friends: ladies, moffies and lesbians.”

Police spokesperson Angula Amulungu said if the sex workers were indeed raped and sexually assaulted by the police they should go to their nearest police stations and lay criminal charges.

“Some of these allegations don’t hold. These people are Namibians and can even go to the commander if they feel they are not being properly attended to. We have the internal investigation force where these people can also go to report their cases,” Amulungu said.

However, Tjombe said sex work was still illegal in Namibia and sex workers were randomly arrested or generally harassed by the police hence they could not go and report their cases.

“Women, who are not necessarily involved in sex work, also find it difficult to report violence against them to the police. This is because the police have for many years been insensitive to the rights of women, particularly if it is domestic violence,” Tjombe said.

He added that in such circumstances, it was not unreasonable to expect that sex workers, who are mostly women, would be afraid of the police.

Illegal abortions land over 7,000 Nam women in hospital

Written by Alexa Kern and Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 10 September 2009

ABORTION remains a serious health problem in Namibia with 7,147 women having been admitted in hospital over a three-year period with abortion related complications, Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Richard Kamwi has said.



In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy Petrina Haingura during the Family Planning and Unsafe Abortion Day, yesterday Dr Kamwi said the figures are from a three year study conducted from November 1995 to October 1998 in 17 hospitals countrywide. In that study which is the only one ever done in Namibia, 107 maternal deaths were identified of which 16% had occurred because of abortion related complications.

“Abortion related deaths were also more common among young women. It was also found that about one third of the deaths were due to septic and illegally induced abortion most likely unsafely performed somewhere.”

The study also found that 20% of women admitted with abortion related complications said their pregnancies were unwanted while 59% of the women dying of abortion related complications were under the age of 25.

Dr Kamwi said the situation was worrisome adding that they was no proper excuse for this unhappy situation as family planning services were available at all health facilities in the country.

The Health Minister also appealed to men folk to get involved in family planning and show responsible leadership.

He commented that the Namibia Planned Parenthood Association was there to ensure that all Namibians have access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services.

“Through the commemoration of this day (Family Planning and Unsafe Abortion Day-NAPPA), we as Namibians must take pride of our inventiveness, as we strive to bring about desired change in behaviour in our society, most especially in our youth.”

Speaking at the same occasion NAPPA country Director Sam Ntelamo said reproductive health services are largely still not accessible to many youth.

“Firstly, young people feel the services are not directed to them or either the RH services are not available at all to the youth,” he said adding that this oversight could be among the contributing factors to the increase in the number of productive health unmet needs experienced by Namibia’s youth. Ntelamo said issues of baby dumping and infanticide are of concern in Namibia and needed to be addressed urgently. He however was quick to point out that without any relevant data it was impossible to estimate the true extent of unsafe abortion, infanticide and baby dumping; as some cases may go unreported.

Ntelamo said between 2003 and 2007 police recorded 74 cases of concealment of birth with these figures suggesting that infanticide and baby dumping are on the increase.

“In the absence of reliable data, we call on those that are financially able to assist to conduct a study on unsafe abortion and baby dumping-of which we believe that the results will provide implementers, scholars and policy makers with empirical evidence on the severity of this problem.”

Medical Council grills Dr Kimberg

Written by Patience Nyangove


Thursday, 10 September 2009

THE Medical and Dental Council of Namibia has started investigating Dr Matti Kimberg for illegally conducting abortions at his Eros surgery.



Council Deputy Registrar, Cornelius Weyulu, confirmed the investigation saying Dr Panduleni Itula officially launched a complaint against Dr Kimberg.

Under Namibian law abortion is illegal unless it is medically deemed that a pregnancy is a health risk to the mother or in cases of rape and incest.

Informanté exposed Dr Kimberg and Dr Kenny Abrahams from Khomasdal as some of the doctors conducting illegal abortions in Namibia.

“We did receive his letter (Dr Itula) of complaint. We will refer the case to the Preliminary Investigation Committee of the Medical and Dental Council to start with the investigation against Dr Kimberg over the allegations. The Preliminary Investigating Committee will request the accused person to respond to the accusations formally within a minimum period of 21 working days.

“The Preliminary Investigating Committee will then sit down and look at the merit of the case before communicating its findings to the full Council,” he said.

Weyulu allayed fears that the investigation might be biased since Dr Kimberg is the Vice President of the Council saying he would neither take part in the preliminary investigation nor attend meetings where the case will be discussed.

“He is definitely not going to be involved. He has to be excused from taking part.”

Weyulu said at this point Dr Abrahams was not being investigated because no formal complaint had been lodged with the Council.

“This is a tricky situation because for us to launch an investigation into alleged misconduct of a practitioner, we should have a formal complaint lodged. If we base our investigation on newspaper articles we will face difficulties in finding evidence and having witnesses to prove the case.

“As you know any illegal abortion is in the first place a contravention of the Abortion and Sterilization Act, which is a criminal offence. If there was a police investigation in this case and the Prosecutor General decides to prosecute, it would be easier for the Council to request for the findings of the court once the criminal proceeding has been finalised and if the practitioner was found guilty of an offence based on its investigation.

“So as of now we don’t have any basis to charge Dr Abrahams, as we can’t simply send him a newspaper article as the basis for our investigations,” he said.

Dr Itula in his complaint said given that abortion is illegal in Namibia Dr Kimberg may have breached his oath of office, if the allegations are proved to be valid.

He also accused the Medical and Dental Council of Namibia for failing to respond to the potential public outcry as reflected in the newspapers and Dr Kimberg’s obvious failure to responsibly and professionally refute the allegations immediately.

“There is an urgent need to restore the reputation of the Medical and Dental Council by the institution (through) an immediate and thorough investigation to confirm or exonerate Dr Kimberg from these extremely damaging allegations.”

He further said the health council was a member of the International Association of Medical authorities and as such the alleged unprofessional conduct of its vice-president was likely to bring the Council into disrepute.

Dr Itula also said Dr Kimberg’s alleged misconduct would also cause the public to lose trust in the Council.

He called for the suspension of Dr Kimberg to allow investigations and adjudication by an independent appropriately appointed authority. “Because of the serious nature of the allegations, and the position in the Council of the person against whom the allegations had been levelled, the vice president of the medical and dental council, an honourable course of action would be to seek the immediate suspension of Dr Matti Kimberg in accordance with Section 10 (8) or Section 9(2) pending an investigation and adjudication by an independent appropriately appointed authority.”

Nampol terrorise sex workers

Written by Patience Nyangove

Thursday, 03 September 2009

NAMIBIAN police have leashed a reign of terror on sex workers allegedly raping and sexually assaulting them among other sordid crimes, a report on female, male and trans sex workers human rights says.



The report was also compiled in two other countries, Botswana and South Africa by Jayne Arnott and Anna-Louise Crago.

According to the report many sex workers interviewed during the compilation of the report claimed they had been raped and sexually assaulted by police officers.

“The police have beaten me four times. They hit my friend with their car. Her head was hurt and she isn’t able to talk anymore,” said Salinde, a street sex worker, in Windhoek.

The report says trans sex (men who dress as women and women who dress as men) workers have also been allegedly raped by the police.

According to Amor, a trans sex worker from Windhoek, the police first arrest them and demand sex.

“The police arrest us, beat us up and rape us. But you can’t do anything against it. They say you are a sex worker-what were you doing? I saw it happen to several of my sex worker friends: ladies, moffis and lesbians.”

The sex workers also allege that in addition to being forced to have unsafe sex, the police officers also confiscate or destroy their condoms thereby undermining the sex workers’ ability to protect themselves.

“The police will take away your condoms. The say (we) don’t deserve to be f*** with condoms,” said Martin also from Windhoek.

The sex workers also alleged they are being unlawfully arrested and extorted of their hard earned money by police officers.

Priscilla, a street based sex worker from Windhoek claims in the report that she spent several months in jail for failure to pay extortion money.

“(The police) arrested me again in January and kept me in jail until March. I had no one to call who could pay N$300 to get me out. So they kept me that whole time, with just (a little) porridge and two slices of bread a day.”

Priscilla also alleged that police officers in Windhoek unlawfully detain them in order to perpetrate sexual violence.

“The (police) arrest us and take us to their homes and rape us there. Then they release (us) on bail,” she said.

The report also notes that police officers in Windhoek have devised methods to humiliate trans sex people such as forcing them to strip naked in public. Martin, a trans sex worker in Windhoek, shared her recollections of finding a friend, Carolyn, another trans sex worker, badly beaten by the police.

“They had ripped her clothes off. It aggravates them more that you are a man so they give you a heavier beating.”

The report also notes that if detained, trans sex workers are systematically submitted to violence by being locked in jail with men.

“The men in prison beat you. You are locked up in a cell with 20 or 30 men. They take you into the shower and rape you. Our President says “no condoms in prison” so everything goes down with no condoms. But we feel like women ourselves, so we don’t see why they don’t put us with the other women in the cells. We are not a danger to them,” said Catherine, a trans-sex worker in Windhoek.

Efforts to get a comment from the police proved fruitless as the police spokesperson Hofni Hamufungu’s mobile was not reachable at the time of going to press.

Picture taken from feministe.us

Secret City police torture cells

Written by Patience Nyangove
Thursday, 03 September 2009

THE Windhoek City Police has been running a secret cell where they torture suspects before handing them over to the Windhoek Central Police Station.

Early this week on Tuesday Informanté witnessed two City Police officers taking turns to beat up a defenceless drunken man detained in a makeshift “holding cell” at the City Police offices in town.

The man was said to have been picked up earlier by the City Police from the road where he was sleeping.

The hopeless man who looked like a vagrant was sleeping on the floor when the two officers started beating him up while he remained seated since he appeared too drunk to evade their blows and kicks.

However, when contacted for comment City Police Public Relations and Community Policing spokesperson, Marx Hipandwa, denied that the man was beaten up at their offices arguing that he was beaten up because he was refusing to move from the road.

Hipandwa, however, was quick to point out that they did not have the right to beat up anyone except in cases where a suspect is trying to harm them.

“According to our policy we do not have the right to beat anyone up unless in cases where we feel we have to defend ourselves. We just don’t beat up people at random. We will make an internal investigation to find out what really transpired there,” Hipandwa said.

Ombudsman John Walters confirmed to Informanté that his office had received complaints of illegal detentions at the City Police offices in town.

“My office is investigating cases of illegal detentions in conditions not prescribed for human beings by City Police. People are complaining that the “cell” they are being held in does not even have a toilet.

“My office is also investigating whether City Police has the power to detain anyone. I am busy with that case and I will take it up with City Police” he said.

Legal Assistance Centre Director Norman Tjombe said over the past few months there has been a surge in the number of cases of brutality committed on ordinary citizens by the City Police.

Tjombe said they were several law suits pending against the City Police.

“It appears that the respect for the rights of suspects is not a consideration by the City Police. There are several law suits pending against the City Police, where they have shot at people in the street-in one case resulting in the amputation of the person’s leg, and his “crime”: walking around in the streets of Windhoek looking for a job.

“We are aware of at least one case where the City Police shot at a suspect where it was reported that the gunshot wounds indicated that the bullets entered from behind indicating that the suspect was running away, thus possibly not presenting an imminent danger to the police or other members of the public,” Tjombe said.

Wedding ready, but where is the groom?

Written by Patience Nyangove

Thursday, 03 September 2009

PICTURE this: A woman prepares her wedding day, buys her own wedding rings, the wedding gown, sends out invites, and buys food and drinks for guests to feast on her big day just like what anyone would do.



However, come wedding day with all friends and relatives who have come from all the corners of the country discovering that the groom is missing.

He has not chickened out or fallen ill or dashed off to attend some emergency elsewhere - there is just no groom as part of this wedding. Instead, it’s a bride’s only wedding.

The above illustration might sound as if it was plucked from a fiction novel but it’s nothing more than facts that happened in the life of Linda Losper from Oranjemund.

According to a statement Linda released almost a year after her “lone” wedding she claims she was asked by God to prepare a wedding.

With God’s help she claims she prepared for her wedding which she admits she thought “was crazy, I said yes Lord I will accept this challenge”.

She goes on to say that she prepared for the wedding and went on to have it.

“This is me Linda Losper doing my Heavenly Father’s bidding. This has been the most beautiful journey that I have travelled with Jesus Christ. I hope this would serve as an example of faith to others, and that everybody would realise that God works in many different ways with each individual, which some might not understand now. I did this without a physical man,” Losper concluded.

Emmanuel who stays in Oranjemund confirmed the “lone” wedding saying it was so weird.

“She used to work for Namdeb when she had that wedding of hers. It’s so unusual you know. Never have I heard of someone who marries him or herself. Whether it’s pure faith in God or desperation, it boggles one’s mind.”

Whether it was real faith in action for Linda or some weird dream she had and wanted to make true no one will ever know, but it sure is a weird wide world.

PICTURE from 1weddingsource.com