Serious Crime Unit chief quits the Police

THE Namibian Police’s elite crime investigation division, the Serious Crime Unit, has lost its second commanding officer in less than a year and a half.

For Detective Chief Inspector Oscar Sheehama, who has headed the unit since late 2004, Friday was his last day in charge of the unit responsible for investigating the most serious, and often hardest to crack, crimes in Namibia. Sheehama, a swiftly rising star in the Namibian Police, told The Namibian on Friday that he had tendered his resignation at the beginning of March.He had received a couple of job offers from the private sector, but still had to decide which to accept, he said.In addition to that, he decided to resign to get more time to devote to his studies, he said.He is studying towards a law degree through the University of Namibia.Sheehama (36) has been attached to the Namibian Police since January 1994.He rose rapidly through the ranks during his 12 years in the Police, with a promotion from the rank of Constable to Warrant Officer in 1999, a further promotion to the rank of Inspector in 2000, and another promotion to Chief Inspector in 2003.Sheehama started off his Police career as a Constable stationed at the Katutura Police Station, before he was transferred to the Wanaheda Police Station and then to the Criminal Investigation Division there.He was later moved to the Complaints and Discipline Unit, where he held the position of Deputy Unit Commander, before he was promoted to the rank of Inspector and transferred to the Oshikoto Region in 2000.DUTY CALLS The next year, after the spill-over effects of the Angolan civil war resulted in armed attacks casting a shadow of insecurity over the Kavango and western Caprivi Regions the year before, Sheehama was transferred to west Caprivi to act as an operational co-ordinator for the Police in that part of the country.He was recalled to the Oshikoto Region, where he was then the Police’s Regional Crime Co-ordinator, during 2002, after calm had returned to the two north-eastern regions.The next year, Sheehama was transferred to Windhoek, where he became the Unit Commander of the Crime Investigation Division at the Windhoek Central Police Station and received a promotion to the rank of Chief Inspector.When the Serious Crime Unit’s long-serving commanding officer, Detective Chief Inspector Nelius Becker, resigned from the Police in October 2004 after some nine years in charge of that specialist unit, Sheehama was shifted into Becker’s old post.KANDARA CASE A fatal shooting incident outside the Windhoek Police Station on the evening of August 24 last year has, however, cast a pall over the latter part of Sheehama’s tenure in that position.Earlier that evening, the self-styled Chief Executive Officer of Avid Investment Corporation, Lazarus Kandara, had been arrested on charges of fraud and theft in connection with the alleged disappearance of N$30 million that the Social Security Commission had invested through the company in January last year.After three officers attached to the Serious Crime Unit had escorted Kandara to his home in Hochland Park in Windhoek to allow him to get a change of clothing, have a bath and eat supper before he was to be locked up in a Police cell, Kandara allegedly shot himself in the chest with a pistol that he is claimed to have managed to get hold of during that visit to his house.About three weeks later, the Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, suspended Sheehama and the three officers from their posts for alleged negligence in their handling of Kandara’s arrest and the first stages of his detention in Police custody.Sheehama took on the Inspector General by challenging his suspension in the High Court, and won that contest when the court set aside the suspension in early October last year.UNFINISHED BUSINESS Kandara’s death remains a matter of unfinished business for Sheehama, though.He and the other Police officers who were involved in escorting Kandara home have been subpoenaed to give evidence at an inquest into Kandara’s death in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court.Last week, Sheehama and the three other officers had the inquest stopped when their lawyer informed the court that they would launch an urgent High Court application to have the presiding Magistrate removed, because she attended Kandara’s funeral.Sheehama said yesterday that his resignation from the Police had nothing to do with the Kandara matter.Like any other person who has been summoned to give evidence at the inquest, he remains a witness in that matter, he said.”I am not under pressure.I leave the Police with a clear conscience,” Sheehama said.”I just want to do something else in life, and I also want to concentrate on my studies,” he said.”Sheehama is a witness (at the inquest), just like all the other witnesses,” he said.”The inquest isn’t there to prosecute Sheehama, it is there to get all the witnesses’ evidence together,” he said.Sheehama, a swiftly rising star in the Namibian Police, told The Namibian on Friday that he had tendered his resignation at the beginning of March.He had received a couple of job offers from the private sector, but still had to decide which to accept, he said.In addition to that, he decided to resign to get more time to devote to his studies, he said.He is studying towards a law degree through the University of Namibia.Sheehama (36) has been attached to the Namibian Police since January 1994.He rose rapidly through the ranks during his 12 years in the Police, with a promotion from the rank of Constable to Warrant Officer in 1999, a further promotion to the rank of Inspector in 2000, and another promotion to Chief Inspector in 2003.Sheehama started off his Police career as a Constable stationed at the Katutura Police Station, before he was transferred to the Wanaheda Police Station and then to the Criminal Investigation Division there. He was later moved to the Complaints and Discipline Unit, where he held the position of Deputy Unit Commander, before he was promoted to the rank of Inspector and transferred to the Oshikoto Region in 2000.DUTY CALLS The next year, after the spill-over effects of the Angolan civil war resulted in armed attacks casting a shadow of insecurity over the Kavango and western Caprivi Regions the year before, Sheehama was transferred to west Caprivi to act as an operational co-ordinator for the Police in that part of the country.He was recalled to the Oshikoto Region, where he was then the Police’s Regional Crime Co-ordinator, during 2002, after calm had returned to the two north-eastern regions.The next year, Sheehama was transferred to Windhoek, where he became the Unit Commander of the Crime Investigation Division at the Windhoek Central Police Station and received a promotion to the rank of Chief Inspector.When the Serious Crime Unit’s long-serving commanding officer, Detective Chief Inspector Nelius Becker, resigned from the Police in October 2004 after some nine years in charge of that specialist unit, Sheehama was shifted into Becker’s old post.KANDARA CASE A fatal shooting incident outside the Windhoek Police Station on the evening of August 24 last year has, however, cast a pall over the latter part of Sheehama’s tenure in that position.Earlier that evening, the self-styled Chief Executive Officer of Avid Investment Corporation, Lazarus Kandara, had been arrested on charges of fraud and theft in connection with the alleged disappearance of N$30 million that the Social Security Commission had invested through the company in January last year.After three officers attached to the Serious Crime Unit had escorted Kandara to his home in Hochland Park in Windhoek to allow him to get a change of clothing, have a bath and eat supper before he was to be locked up in a Police cell, Kandara allegedly shot himself in the chest with a pistol that he is claimed to have managed to get hold of during that visit to his house.About three weeks later, the Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, suspended Sheehama and the three officers from their posts for alleged negligence in their handling of Kandara’s arrest and the first stages of his detention in Police custody.Sheehama took on the Inspector General by challenging his suspension in the High Court, and won that contest when the court set aside the suspension in early October last year.UNFINISHED BUSINESS Kandara’s death remains a matter of unfinished business for Sheehama, though.He and the other Police officers who were involved in escorting Kandara home have been subpoenaed to give evidence at an inquest into Kandara’s death in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court.Last week, Sheehama and the three other officers had the inquest stopped when their lawyer informed the court that they would launch an urgent High Court application to have the presiding Magistrate removed, because she attended Kandara’s funeral.Sheehama said yesterday that his resignation from the Police had nothing to do with the Kandara matter.Like any other person who has been summoned to give evidence at the inquest, he remains a witness in that matter, he said.”I am not under pressure.I leave the Police with a clear conscience,” Sheehama said.”I just want to do something else in life, and I also want to concentrate on my studies,” he said.”Sheehama is a witness (at the inquest), just like all the other witnesses,” he said.”The inquest isn’t there to prosecute Sheehama, it is there to get all the witnesses’ evidence together,” he said.