Namibia’s judiciary in a sorry state, says Justice Minister

JUSTICE Minister, Dr Albert Kawana, yesterday lashed out at Namibia’s judiciary which he said had failed to live up to the nation’s expectations.

Kawana was speaking at Swakopmund at the opening of a two-week training seminar on criminal law for Magistrates. He took a swipe at those he termed the “apostles of justice”, accusing judges and magistrates of being guilty of the “liberal granting of bail, even for serious offences, such as armed robbery with aggravating circumstances, and high treason suspects”.”The judiciary has no clean reputation in the eyes of our nation on issues of rape, murder, stock theft and many other offences,” Kawana charged.He pinpointed another problem area as trivial sentences, as well as suspended sentences given to serious offenders.The Minister said there was a feeling that the judiciary lagged behind as far as the country’s security was concerned.In addition, the judiciary was too quick to protect the rights of people accused of crimes and disregard the human rights of victims of crime.As motivation for these claims, the Minister referred to an article published in The Namibian in November about serial robbery suspect, Thomas Nandjebo, also known as Bob Green.Nandjebo, took part in more than five armed robberies but never served more than three years in prison until he was gunned down by Police in November.”Is this a banana republic or what?” asked Kawana.”Our judiciary is in a sorry state.”The Minister also referred to statistics from “superficial research” he undertook of criminal cases heard at the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court from the end of 2002 to August 2003.He cited 16 cases in which suspects were granted bail.The cases ranged from robbery and robbery with aggravating circumstances to armed robbery and murder.The Minister said in many countries, including those regarded as model democracies, armed robbery carried a mandatory death penalty.”How can our judiciary treat this crime in Namibia like a Sunday picnic? “Not surprisingly, these developments tempt our people to take the law into their own hands in order to protect themselves and their property.”He implied that this situation was undermining the independence of the judiciary.”How can we be expected to defend the independence of the judiciary under this chaos?” He urged Government to allow citizens to express themselves on these issues by calling a referendum.”A question should be put to the nation through a referendum whether our citizens support trial by jury.It is time for the judiciary to listen to the cries of our nation before its image is irretrievably lost,” Kawana said.One of the presenters of the training seminar, Ray Nelson of the Justice College in Pretoria, South Africa, told The Namibian that a possible solution to the question of bail granting would be to declare non-bail crimes.He took a swipe at those he termed the “apostles of justice”, accusing judges and magistrates of being guilty of the “liberal granting of bail, even for serious offences, such as armed robbery with aggravating circumstances, and high treason suspects”. “The judiciary has no clean reputation in the eyes of our nation on issues of rape, murder, stock theft and many other offences,” Kawana charged. He pinpointed another problem area as trivial sentences, as well as suspended sentences given to serious offenders. The Minister said there was a feeling that the judiciary lagged behind as far as the country’s security was concerned. In addition, the judiciary was too quick to protect the rights of people accused of crimes and disregard the human rights of victims of crime. As motivation for these claims, the Minister referred to an article published in The Namibian in November about serial robbery suspect, Thomas Nandjebo, also known as Bob Green. Nandjebo, took part in more than five armed robberies but never served more than three years in prison until he was gunned down by Police in November. “Is this a banana republic or what?” asked Kawana. “Our judiciary is in a sorry state.”The Minister also referred to statistics from “superficial research” he undertook of criminal cases heard at the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court from the end of 2002 to August 2003. He cited 16 cases in which suspects were granted bail. The cases ranged from robbery and robbery with aggravating circumstances to armed robbery and murder. The Minister said in many countries, including those regarded as model democracies, armed robbery carried a mandatory death penalty. “How can our judiciary treat this crime in Namibia like a Sunday picnic? “Not surprisingly, these developments tempt our people to take the law into their own hands in order to protect themselves and their property.”He implied that this situation was undermining the independence of the judiciary. “How can we be expected to defend the independence of the judiciary under this chaos?” He urged Government to allow citizens to express themselves on these issues by calling a referendum. “A question should be put to the nation through a referendum whether our citizens support trial by jury. It is time for the judiciary to listen to the cries of our nation before its image is irretrievably lost,” Kawana said. One of the presenters of the training seminar, Ray Nelson of the Justice College in Pretoria, South Africa, told The Namibian that a possible solution to the question of bail granting would be to declare non-bail crimes.