Crack Police unit has one car

THE Namibian Police’s Serious Crime Unit – supposed to be the Police’s crack detective unit – has only one car available to help it do its work, the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court was topldd yesterday.

Magistrate Valmary van Rooi heard this during the latest court appearance of five men who are accused of having been involved in Namibia’s largest ever cash-in-transit armed robbery. The five – Jan Johannes Julius, George Jambeinge, Matheus Hauwanga, Benedictus Kasimbingwe and Elikana Nghimwena – at this stage face a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.This is in connection with a cash-in-transit robbery in which a record N$5,76 million was stolen when a security company vehicle, driven by Julius on a trip to transport a load of cash to the coast, became the target of a highway heist in the Brakwater area north of Windhoek on December 29 2004.The Police claim to have recovered about N$3,3 million of the stolen money, but the rest of the loot – and also an alleged key suspect in the case, Jason Awene, also known as Kilingi – remain unaccounted for.The case of the five men returned to court yesterday for what was supposed to be a final appearance for the purpose of obtaining the Prosecutor General’s decision about the further prosecution that the five would face.Instead of hearing what charges would be levelled against them and in which court they would be tried, however, the five heard Public Prosecutor Petrus Grusshaber inform the Magistrate that in actual fact the Police’s investigation of their case was still not complete, more than a year and seven months after the heist.Grusshaber also told the Magistrate that statements of potential witnesses who are not in Namibia still have to be obtained by the Police.When the Magistrate wanted to know what efforts had been made to obtain those witness statements, Detective Warrant Officer Geoffrey Scott, a member of the Serious Crime Unit who is involved in the investigation of the case, was called to the witness box to give an explanation to the court.According to Scott, problems with “logistical support” have had the effect that the investigation could not be finalised sooner.He added that while the investigation of the case stretches all over Namibia and even into South Africa, and witness statements have to be obtained in South Africa as well, the Serious Crime Unit has only one motor vehicle available to it.Arrangements have now been made to travel to South Africa next week to get such statements from there, he said.Hauwanga’s lawyer, Marlene Dammert, initially told the court that she objected to a further postponement in the case, but the matter was nevertheless postponed once again, to November 20.Like the previous postponement of the case in March, which was stated to be a final postponement for the Prosecutor General’s decision to be obtained, yesterday’s postponement was again stated to be the final one, but this time for further investigations to be done.All five suspects are free on bail.On the issue of the modes of transport available to the Serious Crime Unit, a Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu, said on enquiry yesterday that four vehicles had been assigned to the unit.Two of these have however since been damaged in accidents, with the result that the unit should still have two cars available to it, he said.A lack of transport should in any event not be an excuse for not being able to finalise an investigation, because when necessary the unit should also be able to arrange to use vehicles that had been assigned to other sections of the Police, Amulungu said.The five – Jan Johannes Julius, George Jambeinge, Matheus Hauwanga, Benedictus Kasimbingwe and Elikana Nghimwena – at this stage face a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.This is in connection with a cash-in-transit robbery in which a record N$5,76 million was stolen when a security company vehicle, driven by Julius on a trip to transport a load of cash to the coast, became the target of a highway heist in the Brakwater area north of Windhoek on December 29 2004.The Police claim to have recovered about N$3,3 million of the stolen money, but the rest of the loot – and also an alleged key suspect in the case, Jason Awene, also known as Kilingi – remain unaccounted for. The case of the five men returned to court yesterday for what was supposed to be a final appearance for the purpose of obtaining the Prosecutor General’s decision about the further prosecution that the five would face.Instead of hearing what charges would be levelled against them and in which court they would be tried, however, the five heard Public Prosecutor Petrus Grusshaber inform the Magistrate that in actual fact the Police’s investigation of their case was still not complete, more than a year and seven months after the heist.Grusshaber also told the Magistrate that statements of potential witnesses who are not in Namibia still have to be obtained by the Police.When the Magistrate wanted to know what efforts had been made to obtain those witness statements, Detective Warrant Officer Geoffrey Scott, a member of the Serious Crime Unit who is involved in the investigation of the case, was called to the witness box to give an explanation to the court.According to Scott, problems with “logistical support” have had the effect that the investigation could not be finalised sooner.He added that while the investigation of the case stretches all over Namibia and even into South Africa, and witness statements have to be obtained in South Africa as well, the Serious Crime Unit has only one motor vehicle available to it.Arrangements have now been made to travel to South Africa next week to get such statements from there, he said.Hauwanga’s lawyer, Marlene Dammert, initially told the court that she objected to a further postponement in the case, but the matter was nevertheless postponed once again, to November 20.Like the previous postponement of the case in March, which was stated to be a final postponement for the Prosecutor General’s decision to be obtained, yesterday’s postponement was again stated to be the final one, but this time for further investigations to be done.All five suspects are free on bail.On the issue of the modes of transport available to the Serious Crime Unit, a Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu, said on enquiry yesterday that four vehicles had been assigned to the unit.Two of these have however since been damaged in accidents, with the result that the unit should still have two cars available to it, he said.A lack of transport should in any event not be an excuse for not being able to finalise an investigation, because when necessary the unit should also be able to arrange to use vehicles that had been assigned to other sections of the Police, Amulungu said.