Africa-Press – Namibia. ONDANGWA mayor and businessman, Paavo Amwele, is challenging those who are accusing him of theft to take their evidence to the police so that if true, he can be charged and arrested.
“If they have a strong case against me, then they must take it to the police so that I can be arrested and the law can take its course. They should rather follow proper procedures than to get the Affirmative Repositioning movement (AR) to attack me due to personal differences,” he said.
Amwele was reacting to a letter written by the AR to the Oshana Regional Commander of the police, Commissioner Rauha Amwele, who is also his wife, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss Paavo’s immediate arrest for alleged illegal sand mining activities. The AR scheduled its meeting with Commissioner Rauha for earlier today, but the Oshana police boss said that such a meeting did not take place.
In the letter, the AR states, among others, that they have evidence and information implicating Paavo as the main culprit in the sand mining activities in both the Oshana and Oshikoto regions, which the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has declared illegal.
Responding to the claims, Paavo said the allegations reek of personal hatred, and are not based on actual evidence. He added that the traditional authority has the power to deal with matters brought to its attention.
“The traditional authority has people with the capacity to deal with me in the case of any real – not merely imaginary – wrongdoing,” he said. Paavo further questioned the agenda of the AR and why it is reportedly trying to usurp the powers of the relevant authorities.
He noted that if the traditional authority feels that he has done something wrong, then the right procedure would have been to take it up with the Namibian Police to further investigate.
Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda, said that the ministry has issued several compliance letters regarding sand mining.
He explained that once a compliance order is issued, the culprit is required to comply with the given orders. “We only make use of the services of the Namibian police when the person is refusing to comply,” Muyunda concluded.
