Africa-Press – Namibia. COURT documents provide detailed insight into how 178 weapons such as bombs, AK-47s, grenades and rockets were allegedly stolen by five police officers in Windhoek.
Police and court documents obtained by The Namibian reveal that some of the weapons were sold and may be in the hands of criminals.
Media reports have in the past estimated the theft of weapons to number 90, but recent court documents show that the actual number is 178 for weapons worth N$2,5 million.
Five police officers are facing criminal charges in the Katutura Magistrate Court. They are Loini Shoondi (56), Kavari Mutuari (34), Fredericks Jacobus Petrus Vilonel (60), and Laban Hoveka Uaundjua (57).
Halwoodi Paulus (55) was last month added to the case as the fifth accused.
Court documents show that the weapons theft syndicate took place from January 2009 until the police busted it in November last year.
A police investigation report added that “the accused acted with a common purpose, on 25 March 2022 near Pionierspark [in Windhoek] while unlawfully possessing an armament including a projectile intended to be discharged from a cannon, recoilless gun or mortar, or rocket launcher.”
The five police officers remain in custody and launched a bail application at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura last month.
“This is a serious case. Once the investigations are done, we expect the case to be referred to the prosecutor general who will then decide whether it will remain here or be moved to the High Court,” state prosecutor Edel Uupindi, who is presiding over the bail application, told The Namibian last month.
GUNS AND ROSES
One of the accused, Shoondi, was allegedly found with two pistols without a licence.
She has been in custody since 8 December 2021.
“Yes. I don’t have a licence,” she admitted during the bail hearing at the Katutura Magistrate Court last month.
Shoondi lives in Havana and has been working at the Police Central Depot since 1999.
She is accused of selling a pistol for N$700 to her neighbour, who has since turned state witness.
Shoondi is also accused of selling a shotgun for N$1 500 and ammunition pellets for N$300.
She is further accused of selling four firearms and pallets to four people in Havana. One gun was sold to a former police officer at Ombili.
All officers are accused of colluding on 8 December 2021 at Havana, by wrongfully and unlawfully having seven rounds of ammunition without being in lawful possession of an arm capable of firing that ammunition.
They are also accused of stealing police property, including uniforms from the Namibian Police Logistics Division, on 8 December 2021.
The officers are further accused of stealing 94 firearms from the Nampol Logistics Management Division in the Northern Industrial Area between May 2019 and November 2021.
The guns include 35 x 9mm Pietro Beretta pistols, 23 x Walther P38s semi-automatic pistols, three TT pistols, and 29 x 9mm Cz-75 pistols, valued at N$1,3 million.
The police say the five officers stole another 84 firearms valued at N$1,1 million from Nampol Logistics between January 2009 and December 2021.
On 25 March 2022, the police records indicate that the five officers worked together in unlawfully possessing 61 firearms in Pionierspark. This includes 25 hunting rifles, seven pistols, one Uzi, three revolvers, and six unspecified firearms.
At least 3 500 rounds of live ammunition were found at the same location in Pionierspark. An armament and 35 magazines/ammunition storage and 19 frames were also found at the site.
They are also charged with the defeat or obstruction of justice by burning six police firearms and six firearm parts, in order to conceal them from the police.
On 25 March 2022, the police recovered five boxes of 2.2 rifle ammunition and four boxes of shotguns at Ondobe village in the Ohangwena region.
Other items recovered include shoes, commissioner shoes, one police torch, one bundle of police tent laces and ropes, and two police tents.
Three magazines/ammunition storage were also found at Ondobe without a permit or the minister’s authorisation on behalf of the state.
The police further said the five officers acted with common purpose in March, at an unspecified Katutura location, by possessing 134 rounds of ammunition without being in lawful possession of an arm capable of firing that ammunition.
Other items include shirts, a handbag, reflector jackets, socks, skirts and tents, among others.
PLOT AND PLAN
Police investigations detail how the five officers allegedly managed to steal guns and other police property from the depot between January 2009 and December 2021.
“Wrongfully, unlawfully, falsely and with intent to defraud, give out and pretend to the Namibian Police that the 84 firearms have been inspected and thus are in the safe,” a police investigative report said.
“The accused knew that the firearms were not inspected, only the boxes in which they were kept [that remained],” the report said.
The same false pretence was also used between May 2019 and December 2021 to defraud and pretend to the Namibian Police that the 96 firearms will be signed for on the issue voucher, and thus kept in the safe of the Namibian Police.
“The accused knew well that they would not sign the issued vouchers of the firearms and keep the firearms in the safe,” said the report.
Khomas regional commander Ismael Basson told The Namibian last month that the officers were identified during investigations.
“The suspicion is that these things are sold to people because it’s not for personal use, but to be sold to others,” Basson said.
Khomas police spokesperson Silas Shipandeni said the police have recovered some items.
“There are a number of recovered items in relation to this case,” he said.
The bail application is set to continue later this month.
The case comes at a time that firearms theft is on the rise.
Police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga revealed in September last year that Namibia recorded 453 cases of attempted murder with firearms, 919 cases of firearm pointing, and 380 cases of firearm theft in the past three years.
He said these statistics illustrate a slight increase in robbery with aggravating circumstances, which has a negative impact on Namibia socially and economically.
In 2019, the police said at least 301 guns had been stolen since 2018.
Years ago, Pauline Dempers, a former council member of Nangof Trust, who had been lobbying for tighter gun control, described the number of licences issued as unreasonably high and “creating armies in our houses”.
She said considering the country’s population of 2,5 million, issuing 14 720 licences in 24 months was unacceptably high.
“It fuels domestic violence, people are intimidated [and] people are killing themselves because guns are easily available,” she added.
Dempers said the main problem with gun ownership is that the Arms and Ammunition Act of 1996 is lax, but the council was working on amendments to stem the shortcomings.
So far, only one accused, Shoondi, has taken the witness stand for the bail application hearing.
The others were supposed to take the stand last week but the prosecutor did not show up. The bail application has been rescheduled for later this month.
The lawyers representing all the accused have applied for bail.
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