Africa-Press – Namibia. The police in the Kavango East are investigating the cause of a fire that occured in the early hours of Thursday at the Rundu Magistrate’s Court records office.
The fire damaged everything that was in the building.
“An arson case will be opened, our forensic investigators have been notified and they are on their way from Windhoek, no one has been arrested yet but the fire is suspected to have been started by somebody.
The window was broken but we cannot tell the extent of the damage yet as we are currently investigating, all the documents that were in the building were damaged,’’ said the head of the crime investigations department, Deputy Commissioner Bonifatius Kanyetu of the Kavango East police. New Era has observed that the court had no CCTV cameras outside and only had dysfunctional lights which made the place dark at night. There were two security guards stationed at the court facility, but they could not see anything except the light from the fire inside the building.
The Office of the Judiciary in a statement also confirmed the fire.
“This incident has resulted in substantial damage to the structure, notably affecting the administration block and the criminal section, where daily charge sheets are maintained,’’ read the statement released on Thursday.
The Judiciary said at this stage, the cause of the fire has not been determined, and that they are still waiting for the preliminary reports from the relevant authorities.
“Measures are being put in place to secure court records, files, and the review of backup systems and digital archives is underway to mitigate any potential data loss. The Judiciary strongly condemns any actions whether deliberate or negligent that endangers the safety and integrity of the justice system,’’ the statement further read.
The Judiciary said despite the fire they remain committed to preserving access to justice, upholding the rule of law, and minimising disruption to court operations and further updates will be issued as the investigation yields additional verified information. The public is encouraged to refrain from speculation while investigations are ongoing.
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