A wee matter of theft: Catheters become catapults

A PATIENT at the Oshakati State Hospital stole catheters and sold them to villagers who use them to make catapults.

On Sunday, security guards at the northern health institution caught Heita Mwandingi (18) from Omaalala village as he tried to slip out of the hospital with catheters. Director of Health in the North West Health Region, Dr Nafatali Hamata, told The Namibian yesterday that 143 Foley balloon catheters were stolen on Sunday.Mwandingi confessed that he had stolen catheters from the hospital before.He said he sold them at N$2 each to boys at his village who used them to make catapults.”I have a good market, because those boys, and even some of the elderly people from Omaalala and Ekolyanaambo, like them [the catheters] and are my good customers,” Mwandingi said.Dr Hamata told The Namibian that one catheter costs N$20 and that Mwandingi’s theft cost the State N$2 860.Although the catheters were recovered, Dr Hamata said they would have to be discarded because they had been removed from their sterile packaging and could no longer be used.Director of Health in the North West Health Region, Dr Nafatali Hamata, told The Namibian yesterday that 143 Foley balloon catheters were stolen on Sunday.Mwandingi confessed that he had stolen catheters from the hospital before.He said he sold them at N$2 each to boys at his village who used them to make catapults.”I have a good market, because those boys, and even some of the elderly people from Omaalala and Ekolyanaambo, like them [the catheters] and are my good customers,” Mwandingi said.Dr Hamata told The Namibian that one catheter costs N$20 and that Mwandingi’s theft cost the State N$2 860.Although the catheters were recovered, Dr Hamata said they would have to be discarded because they had been removed from their sterile packaging and could no longer be used.