Govt probes Katrina brawl

A HIGH-LEVEL delegation headed by Minister of Local Government John Pandeni has begun an investigation into misconduct allegations against Hardap Governor Hanse-Himarwa, The Namibian has established.

Hardap Police Deputy Commissioner Kobus Meyer confirmed that Pandeni’s special advisor and SPYL Secretary, Eliah Ngurare, yesterday approached his office and requested the Police to round up witnesses and complainants who had laid crimen injuria and assault charges against Hanse-Himarwa. The criminal charges were withdrawn following a settlement between the parties.Meyer said he declined the request because the Police had already closed their file on the incident.The charges stemmed from a brawl at the Aimablaagte residential area of Mariental.It allegedly involved Hanse-Himarwa and a woman unknown to The Namibian.In an earlier interview, an eyewitness, Mariental resident Aletha Kooper, said things got ugly when Hanse-Himarwa entered a room where food for her sister’s wedding was being prepared.”Food was strewn all over the room after she [Hanse-Himarwa] pushed it off the tables while plates were flying in the air as she threw them at the woman,” Kooper claimed.Meyer said the internal investigation stemmed from a Police report on the incident forwarded on request to the Police Inspector General’s office.Last Friday, Hanse-Himarwa played down the allegations during a media briefing at her home.However, she said that there had been “heated moments” between the bride’s and groom’s families during the wedding preparations, in which she and her husband took part.”This normally happens with all traditional Nama weddings, because each family also has individual guests visiting parental homes,” she said.She slammed the media, claiming that “the country’s media have become a joke for only reporting on street fights instead of concentrating on development stories”.It was the second public fight that Hanse-Himarwa had been involved in in less than a month.Recently she and Swapo Hardap leader Willie ‘Mistake’ Swartz exchanged blows at the Swapo Rehoboth East conference.The criminal charges were withdrawn following a settlement between the parties.Meyer said he declined the request because the Police had already closed their file on the incident.The charges stemmed from a brawl at the Aimablaagte residential area of Mariental.It allegedly involved Hanse-Himarwa and a woman unknown to The Namibian.In an earlier interview, an eyewitness, Mariental resident Aletha Kooper, said things got ugly when Hanse-Himarwa entered a room where food for her sister’s wedding was being prepared. “Food was strewn all over the room after she [Hanse-Himarwa] pushed it off the tables while plates were flying in the air as she threw them at the woman,” Kooper claimed.Meyer said the internal investigation stemmed from a Police report on the incident forwarded on request to the Police Inspector General’s office.Last Friday, Hanse-Himarwa played down the allegations during a media briefing at her home.However, she said that there had been “heated moments” between the bride’s and groom’s families during the wedding preparations, in which she and her husband took part.”This normally happens with all traditional Nama weddings, because each family also has individual guests visiting parental homes,” she said.She slammed the media, claiming that “the country’s media have become a joke for only reporting on street fights instead of concentrating on development stories”.It was the second public fight that Hanse-Himarwa had been involved in in less than a month.Recently she and Swapo Hardap leader Willie ‘Mistake’ Swartz exchanged blows at the Swapo Rehoboth East conference.