Inmate claims starvation in police custody

A man (30) detained at Omungwelume Police Station in the Ohangwena region claims he is starving as the police are not providing him with the diet a doctor prescribed to him.

Erastus Shimooshili, who now wants to be released from custody, has been in police custody since 2016 on robbery-related charges involving N$4 000.

According to his affidavit, which was filed at the Oshakati Magistrate’s Court, Shimooshili was sick from 22 January to 6 February this year.

During that time, he said, his lawyer began to make arrangements with the police at Oshakati Police Station to have him taken to Oshakati Intermediate Hospital.

“I was taken to Oshakati State Hospital on 9 February 2023 as a result of difficulty breathing, anal area pain, and severe constipation. I was unable to pass stool for three days prior,” he said.

Shimooshili said he felt weak at the time, and his health was (and still is) deteriorating.

He said he was unresponsive to the prescribed medication as a result of a lack of adequate nutrition while in police custody.

He said he has been starving since 1 March.

The police promised him adequate food supplies on 1 March and 16 May, he said.

“However, I have not received a morsel of food to date, since my transfer from Oshakati Police Station holding cells,” he said.
Shimooshili said his situation remains dire and he is desperate for adequate food while in police custody.

He needs the courts to urgently consider his bail request, he said.

Shimooshili said his father, who is employed as a soldier at Okahandja, and other family members are no longer able to feed him while in custody as they cannot afford his medically required diet.

He said his father earns a monthly salary of N$8 225.

A document from a dietician shows that Shimooshili should eat eggs, potatoes, mixed vegetables, sweet potatoes, peanut butter and mince.
This is because he has been diagnosed with constipation, gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

Because of his condition, Shimoshili is requesting to be granted bail of N$1 000, with conditions.

His lawyer, Nicky Ngula, this week said he has had to buy Shimooshili food worth about N$750.

“The police promised to give him food as per his doctor’s prescription, but they failed to do so,” Ngula said.

Shimooshili’s father, Enos Haipumbu, in his supporting affidavit said he is unable to feed his son as he has to take care of eight other children.

“In short, I cannot afford to feed him three times a day, 30 days a month. This notion is unfair, unaffordable and impractical,” he said.

Shimooshili is also requesting financial assistance to take on the police for allegedly starving him while in custody.

He requested that the money be paid in the trust account of his lawyer.

Omungwelume Police Station commander inspector Orsmund Mbeha wrote to Ohangwena’s regional police commander, Elizabeth Sibolile, on 16 May, saying the police station received carrots and cabbage, which were not sufficient for the whole month.

The food was requested on 10 March.

Mbeha said Omungwelume Police Station does not receive the specific foods Shimooshili’s doctor prescribed.

Sibolile referred Mbeha’s request to the Office of the Inspector General of the Namibian Police in her letter dated 15 March 2023.
Speaking to The Namibian, Mbeha said he could not comment on the inmate’s food as Shimooshili transferred himself to Omungwelume Police Station fro Oshakati.

“He came on his own will to Omungwelume, because his family is feeding him. This is not a Omungwelume case. It’s for Oshakati Police Station. Let them comment on his food,” he said.

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