Northern farmers count losses as stock theft surges

Communal farmers in northern Namibia are reporting an increase in stock theft, blaming police inaction and negligence as cases surge at villages along the Angolan border.

Villagers in the Omusati, Oshikoto, Oshana, and Ohangwena regions have expressed their concern about the matter, saying cattle is allegedly being herded into the neighbouring country, never to be seen again.

Communities are pointing fingers at law enforcers, accusing them of failing to curb the situation.

Many have resolved to take the law into their own hands, yet the police in these regions are accusing community members of being negligent when it comes to caring for their animals.

The police in the Oshikoto, Oshana, and Omusati regions have recorded 1 181 cases of stock theft since September last year.

Oshana regional police commander Sakaria Lungameni says the theft of small stock is more prevalent in his region.

“Thieves target mostly goats, which they go and steal from nearby villages to sell at the town in the location where the kapana business is thriving.

“We have also realised that in this region, animals are roaming the streets everywhere and even at night.

These animals are sleeping all over the streets and shopping complexes,” he says.

Lungameni says communities are not taking the responsibility to gather their animals to protect them.

He says criminals use opportunities, such as stock roaming the streets of Oshakati, to grab the animals and kill them.

The police say most of these animals are stolen from household kraals at night and from grazing areas during the day.

Lungameni says he has addressed communities in the region on various platforms, including the churches, on crime in the region, and has also raised the issue of roaming animals.

“I told the communities to recognise the impact of urbanisation. With the expansion of townships from villages, they need to move their kraals closer, not far off in the fields, so they are able to hear when someone enters a kraal.

They should look after their animals,” he says.

Omusati regional police commander Ismael Basson says: “People don’t want to keep their animals in the kraals.

An animal can, for instance, disappear, and they would only notice this weeks later.

“That is when they would come to the police to open a case, but how can we trace the animal or the culprit when we can’t even get the footprints to follow for investigations? By then it’s too late and it’s difficult.”

Community members say stock theft is draining them financially.

“Having these animals is our livelihood. We don’t just keep them for fun. We pay for our needs through these animals, and to just have them stolen and nothing is done, is very sad.

“The police would arrest these culprits just for them to be released and do it again,” Ouholamp villager Stephanus Thomas says.

“We need a lasting solution. In the past we did not have these incidents happening so much compared to now,” resident Emilia Paulus says.

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