Africa-Press – Namibia. Katima Mulilo woke up to news of a daring break-in at the town council offices in the wee hours of Saturday.
By sunrise, management officials had already converged on the scene, moving from office to office as they assessed damage, and coordinated their next steps. Council spokesperson Chrispin Muyoba described how intruders slipped in under the cover of darkness—breaking through the roof, slicing open the ceiling, and dropping directly into the valuation office.
A laptopA was smashed, a computer modem missing, and equipment left in disarray. In a small stroke of luck, the hard drive that many feared had been stolen was later recovered. Their next stop was the cash hall, but early investigations suggest this wasn’t a sophisticated theft targeting money. Instead, it looked more like sheer vandalism.
“No cash is missing. What we are seeing at this stage is mostly damage to office information and equipment,” Muyoba said.
But the incident did more than damage property—it exposed a glaring weakness in the council’s security.
Council has opened a case at the Katima Mulilo Police Station, though no suspects have been arrested yet. The council says it is working closely with investigators to track down those responsible.
The break-in comes at a tense moment for the town. Just days earlier, urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa made waves during a community meeting at Katima Mulilo—alleging that the recent fire in the council’s registry office was an inside job, deliberately sparked to destroy evidence. Sankwasa officially dissolved the council in a notice published in the Government Gazette on 15 August 2025. Citing Section 92(2) of the Local Authorities Act of 1992, he declared that all council members were removed from office, with their powers and functions now vested in him.
The move comes after weeks of escalating tension between the ministry and the council. The minister alleged governance failures, illegal land-for-goods transactions, ignored directives and unresolved labour dispute This latest incident also marks the second break-in using the same method. The first occurred at the end of September, followed by a mysterious fire in the town planning department in October. Now, with a fresh break-in shaking public confidence, residents are left wondering whether these events are connected—and what, exactly, someone is trying so hard to hide.
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