Official’s home firebombed

THREE petrol bombs were thrown at the house of Magistrate Thomas Kanime at Ongwediva in the Oshana Region in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Kanime told The Namibian that he and his wife woke up when they heard a crash against their bedroom window. “I immediately got up and carefully looked through the window and saw a cooldrink bottle lying on the ground and realised that somebody had thrown that bottle at the window,” Kanime said.”My wife also woke up, and we heard another sound from our children’s bedroom.I immediately opened their door and went inside.and to my shock, I saw that the curtains were on fire.”I woke up my children to vacate the room immediately.Then we heard another sound at the main door to the sitting room and when I investigated what was happening, I noticed fire at that door.”Kanime said he and his family managed to extinguish the fires and called the Police.He said the bottles appeared to have been filled with petrol.The first one hit the burglar bars in front of his bedroom window and fell harmlessly outside the house.Chief Inspector Golden Naanda of the Oshana Police confirmed the attack.He said the Police were investigating a case of attempted murder and arson.No arrest has been made yet.Naanda said the National Forensic Science Institute had been asked to help with the investigation by analysing the contents of the bottles.News of the attack spread like wildfire at Ongwediva and Oshakati, sending shockwaves through the two communities and beyond.Magistrate Kanime told The Namibian that he suspected that the attack was the work of someone who wanted to intimidate him because of the nature of his work.”I am very sure that the person or persons who did this, did it with the aim to kill me and my family,” he said.”My family and I thank God for sparing us in this attack and I thank our neighbours who came to our rescue very fast,” Kanime said.”I immediately got up and carefully looked through the window and saw a cooldrink bottle lying on the ground and realised that somebody had thrown that bottle at the window,” Kanime said.”My wife also woke up, and we heard another sound from our children’s bedroom.I immediately opened their door and went inside.and to my shock, I saw that the curtains were on fire.”I woke up my children to vacate the room immediately.Then we heard another sound at the main door to the sitting room and when I investigated what was happening, I noticed fire at that door.”Kanime said he and his family managed to extinguish the fires and called the Police.He said the bottles appeared to have been filled with petrol. The first one hit the burglar bars in front of his bedroom window and fell harmlessly outside the house.Chief Inspector Golden Naanda of the Oshana Police confirmed the attack.He said the Police were investigating a case of attempted murder and arson.No arrest has been made yet.Naanda said the National Forensic Science Institute had been asked to help with the investigation by analysing the contents of the bottles.News of the attack spread like wildfire at Ongwediva and Oshakati, sending shockwaves through the two communities and beyond.Magistrate Kanime told The Namibian that he suspected that the attack was the work of someone who wanted to intimidate him because of the nature of his work.”I am very sure that the person or persons who did this, did it with the aim to kill me and my family,” he said.”My family and I thank God for sparing us in this attack and I thank our neighbours who came to our rescue very fast,” Kanime said.