Month: July 2023

The ‘No to drugs’ national police campaign, successfully took place at Otjiwarongo in the Otjozondjupa Region on Saturday.

The campaign aimed at creating public awareness on the dangers and consequences of drug use was jointly organised by the Otjozondjupa and Khomas regional Namibian Police Force (NamPol) officers as a community outreach programme on drug law enforcement.

The event which started with a street procession was held at the DRC informal settlement sports field under the theme ‘Cleaning Otjiwarongo from illegal substances’.

In a speech read on his behalf, NamPol Inspector-General, Lieutanant-General Joseph Shikongo said the youth of the country should join the efforts of the police in the fight against drug trafficking, distribution and selling in order to make the country peaceful and safe.

Shikongo said as of January to June this year, about 77 suspects were arrested in connection with drug-related crimes in the Otjozondjupa Region on charges of possession and/or use of cannabis, mandrax, cocaine powder and crack cocaine.

He stated that out of the 77 suspects who were arrested, 71 are men and six were women.

“Countrywide in June alone this year, a total of 153 suspects were arrested for dealing in the same drugs which carried an estimated value of more than N.dollars 617 000,” he said.

Of the 153 suspects, 148 were Namibians, three Zambians, and one each from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Several residents of Otjiwarongo called for more similar public awareness activities on drug use, saying the substances are destroying households, marriages and the future of their school-going children, sisters and brothers.

Otjozondjupa Governor, James Uerikua and Otjiwarongo Constituency councillor, Marlayn Mbakera also attended the event.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Hompa Sofia Mundjembwe Kanyetu was officially designated as the traditional leader of the Shambyu traditional authority in the Kavango East Region on Saturday.

Due to a drawn-out court squabble, recently settled by the Supreme Court in her favour, the Shambyu community has been without a state-recognized leader since the death of Hompa Angelina Matumbo Ribebe on 14 June 2015.

Minister of Information and Communication Technology Peya Mushelenga addressed the Shambyu people during the coronation ceremony as he also dealt with this issue during his tenure as Minister of Urban and Rural Development.

During his speech, Mushelenga made reference to the measures he took when he recognised Hompa Kanyetu stating that the journey was not easy and that he is happy the Shambyu people finally have a Hompa now.

High Court ruling regarding the appointment of a new head of the Shambyu community was overturned on appeal last month.

The Supreme Court ruled that Sofia Mundjembwe Kanyetu was appointed by the chiefs’ council in terms of the law and that the High Court wrongly found that the council had acted unlawfully by refusing an application from another candidate, Maria Ukamba Haindaka.

After the death of Hompa Matumbo Ribebe, a dispute arose between Haindaka and Kanyetu, who are both members of the royal family and can be designated as successors.

On his part, the Minister of Urban and Rural Development Erastus Uutoni said leadership succession disputes have been costly to the Namibian tax papers as the government has been incurring expenditures in commissioning investigations into resolving these disputes.

“These disputes are often avoidable if parties exercise tolerance and respect on laid down customary laws and traditional norms,” he said, stressing that disputes among members of the same royal group not only prolong the filling of the leadership gap but also create unnecessary disunity.

Uutoni said as Kanyetu performs her duties, the law requires her to do so in a manner that upholds national values, laws and policies, while closely working in solidarity with government at all levels.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

A onetime Enugu lawmaker, Mr Nwabueze Ugwu, says that Gov. Peter Mbah’s vision to grow Enugu State Gross Domestic Products (GDP) will depend on the level of security and industrialization.

This, he said, would also be achievable if there were adequate power and water supply in the state.

Ugwu stated this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Enugu.

According to him, industrialization can be fully achieved through the support of the private sector and no investor will push out finance in a volatile environment.

“A fallout to raising the GDP from $4 billion dollars to $30 billion is the fact that for that to take place, there have to be many industries built in Enugu state.

“For these industries to be built, there must be security, there must be determination on the part of the governor and his entire team.

“There must be sincerity of the executive and there must also be cooperation from the people who live in Enugu state for this thing to be achieved,” he said.

Ugwu stated that security was not for government alone but a two way traffic.

“It is a thing that will guide the government to pilot affairs while the people will also cooperate seriously with government so that if they see something they will say something.

“It is only if security is available that the investors will invest their money and it is not possible for the government to build the industries that we will need to raise the GDP of the state from four billion dollars to $30 billion.”

He said that if sufficient industries were built in Enugu state, it would get to the level where that singular statement by the governor that he wanted zero unemployment in Enugu would be achieved.

“It is those industries that will employ the people of the state directly with five times more indirect jobs.

He noted that with more investors the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in the state would be reinvigorated due to the attendant high traffic.

He added that with multiplicity of industries, many foreign and local residents would function well and economic activities blossomed around the airport.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Gunmen kidnapped the Ekiti State’s chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Paul Omotisho, on Saturday.

APC’s Publicity Secretary in Ekiti, Mr Segun Dipe, stated at Ado-Ekiti that the assailants abducted Omotisho as he was driving on the Agbado-Ekiti/Imesi-Ekiti Road.

“The chairman was driving in a Toyota Venza car when the assailants seized him.

“The gunmen shot at one of his tyres to immobilise the vehicle after which they seized and drove him off in a Toyota Hilux van.

“He was alone in the car when the incident happened.

“Security agencies – the police and Amotekun Corps (the Southwest security outfit) – have been alerted and they are working on the incident,’’ Dipe stated.

Reacting to the abduction, police spokesman in Ekiti, DSP Sunday Abutu, said the police would make a statement on the abduction after getting clear information.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria