Govt official ‘harassed under bridge’

A SENIOR civil servant in the Office of the Speaker has accused the Police of harassment in connection with an incident in which a Government vehicle he was driving was impounded by the Police.

The incident, according to Nama Goabab, the Secretary to the National Assembly, happened on Friday, May 25. The Police found Goabab in a stationary Government vehicle under a bridge on the Western Bypass and asked him to show proof of authorisation to use the vehicle, which he could not produce.He told the Police that a copy of the document was in his office at the Parliament Gardens.The Police, according to him, then asked him to take a breathalyser test, to which he agreed.Police spokesman Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu confirmed the incident to The Namibian, but said that the Police were alerted by a member of the public about a Government vehicle that had been parked for quite some time under a bridge.The Police contacted the City Police to investigate, he said.Goabab maintains that he pulled off the road when he received a call on his cellphone while driving, and that he did not park under the bridge for a long time.He further claims that when the Police took the breathalyser test he looked at the reading before passing the device back to the Police.According to him, the reading was zero.”But the officer pressed some button(s), and showed me the reading.It was 0,9,” Goabab said.He was then informed that he was over the legal limit and that the vehicle would be impounded.The Police also informed him that he was not under arrest, he said.He further claimed that the Police searched the vehicle “in an aggressive manner” but did not find anything untoward.Goabab was picked up at the scene by a friend and driven home.When he returned to the Wanaheda Police station later the same day to reclaim the vehicle, he said, a Police officer informed him that it had been impounded because the “driver was drunk and not because of the trip authority”.Goabab questioned why he had not been arrested if he had indeed been found to be drunk.On this, Chief Inspector Amulungu said the Police could at their discretion take a drunk driver home without charging him.”Goabab was not driving the vehicle at the time and therefore we could not arrest and charge him,” he added.Amulungu rejected allegations of harassment, saying that the Police were simply reacting to a public complaint as usual.The vehicle was returned to Goabab’s office on Monday without any charges laid.The Police found Goabab in a stationary Government vehicle under a bridge on the Western Bypass and asked him to show proof of authorisation to use the vehicle, which he could not produce.He told the Police that a copy of the document was in his office at the Parliament Gardens.The Police, according to him, then asked him to take a breathalyser test, to which he agreed.Police spokesman Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu confirmed the incident to The Namibian, but said that the Police were alerted by a member of the public about a Government vehicle that had been parked for quite some time under a bridge.The Police contacted the City Police to investigate, he said. Goabab maintains that he pulled off the road when he received a call on his cellphone while driving, and that he did not park under the bridge for a long time.He further claims that when the Police took the breathalyser test he looked at the reading before passing the device back to the Police.According to him, the reading was zero.”But the officer pressed some button(s), and showed me the reading.It was 0,9,” Goabab said.He was then informed that he was over the legal limit and that the vehicle would be impounded.The Police also informed him that he was not under arrest, he said.He further claimed that the Police searched the vehicle “in an aggressive manner” but did not find anything untoward.Goabab was picked up at the scene by a friend and driven home.When he returned to the Wanaheda Police station later the same day to reclaim the vehicle, he said, a Police officer informed him that it had been impounded because the “driver was drunk and not because of the trip authority”.Goabab questioned why he had not been arrested if he had indeed been found to be drunk.On this, Chief Inspector Amulungu said the Police could at their discretion take a drunk driver home without charging him.”Goabab was not driving the vehicle at the time and therefore we could not arrest and charge him,” he added.Amulungu rejected allegations of harassment, saying that the Police were simply reacting to a public complaint as usual.The vehicle was returned to Goabab’s office on Monday without any charges laid.