4 years for diamond thief with gems in bowels

CONFESSED diamond thief Bernardo Ndiweda, who this week admitted in the High Court in Windhoek that he had stolen some N$2,2 million worth of the gemstones from Namdeb at Oranjemund, was sentenced to an effective prison term of four years yesterday.

Judge Annel Silungwe sentenced Ndiweda to seven years imprisonment, of which three years were suspended for five years on condition that Ndiweda is not again convicted of the theft of diamonds during the period of suspension. Ndiweda, a 47-year-old father of six children, had pleaded with the Judge on Tuesday not to be sent to prison, but to be fined instead for the crime to which he had confessed.His request was turned down yesterday, with the Judge deciding to impose a direct term of imprisonment.Ndiweda may derive some measure of consolation from that, though, since it means that the N$50 000 that he had posted as bail will now be refunded.Ndiweda had admitted that he stole 107 rough diamonds, weighing 222,64 carats and valued at N$2,269 million, from Namdeb at Oranjemund on December 18 2000.The diamonds were discovered in four separate parcels that were retrieved from Ndiweda’s bowels after an X-ray examination at the mining company’s personnel control centre showed some “foreign objects” inside Ndiweda’s pelvic area.It is understood that the diamonds were expelled from Ndiweda’s intestines after he had been prescribed laxatives.They were of a high quality and included an unusually valuable stone of about 20 carats.During sentencing, Judge Silungwe told Ndiweda that diamonds were a mainstay of the Namibian economy, and that it was common knowledge that Namdeb was playing a pivotal role in the economic upliftment of the country.For that reason, thieves who stole Namdeb’s precious products should not be treated with kid gloves.On Ndiweda’s plea that he should not be imprisoned because of his role as a breadwinner for his family – wife and six children ranging age 19 years to three months and including his mother and five orphaned children of deceased siblings – the Judge commented that these personal circumstances were the very things that Ndiweda should have had in mind when he stole the stones.The court had to send a clear message that the theft of diamonds entailed a serious risk of an immediate prison term, Judge Silungwe said.Ndiweda had chosen to go through his trial without legal representation.Public Prosecutor Orben Sibeya represented the State.Ndiweda, a 47-year-old father of six children, had pleaded with the Judge on Tuesday not to be sent to prison, but to be fined instead for the crime to which he had confessed.His request was turned down yesterday, with the Judge deciding to impose a direct term of imprisonment.Ndiweda may derive some measure of consolation from that, though, since it means that the N$50 000 that he had posted as bail will now be refunded.Ndiweda had admitted that he stole 107 rough diamonds, weighing 222,64 carats and valued at N$2,269 million, from Namdeb at Oranjemund on December 18 2000.The diamonds were discovered in four separate parcels that were retrieved from Ndiweda’s bowels after an X-ray examination at the mining company’s personnel control centre showed some “foreign objects” inside Ndiweda’s pelvic area.It is understood that the diamonds were expelled from Ndiweda’s intestines after he had been prescribed laxatives.They were of a high quality and included an unusually valuable stone of about 20 carats.During sentencing, Judge Silungwe told Ndiweda that diamonds were a mainstay of the Namibian economy, and that it was common knowledge that Namdeb was playing a pivotal role in the economic upliftment of the country.For that reason, thieves who stole Namdeb’s precious products should not be treated with kid gloves.On Ndiweda’s plea that he should not be imprisoned because of his role as a breadwinner for his family – wife and six children ranging age 19 years to three months and including his mother and five orphaned children of deceased siblings – the Judge commented that these personal circumstances were the very things that Ndiweda should have had in mind when he stole the stones.The court had to send a clear message that the theft of diamonds entailed a serious risk of an immediate prison term, Judge Silungwe said.Ndiweda had chosen to go through his trial without legal representation.Public Prosecutor Orben Sibeya represented the State.