Day: May 7, 2023

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Team Namibia Readies for European Tour

The Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC) is hard at work as it has set its sight on taking a bigger group of athletes to the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships slated for Paris, France in July.

A group of nine athletes and five guides will travel to Italy and Switzerland to compete at the 2023 Jesolo Grand Prix and the 2023 Nottwil Grand Prix in the month of May.

According to Michael Hamukwaya, NPC secretary-general and Team Manager for the European Tour, on Saturday, the committee is taking athletes on a European Tour as part of its preparation for the upcoming International Paralympic Committee (IPC), World Para Athletics Championships.

“After the Para Games in 2021, we selected a team of athletes at our National Championships held in Oshakati in 2022 and a number of those selected athletes competed at the Marrakech Grand Prix in Morocco, where the team was trimmed to this number that will be touring Europe,” he said.

Hamukwaya added that for its pathway to the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, they assembled a group of elite athletes who ranked in the top 10 rankings of the IPC in their different categories.

“These athletes should challenge themselves again the best in the world. Our goal at the world champs is to fight for podium positions and get more slots allocated to the NPC for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games,” said Hamukwaya.

The NPC secretary-general added that as a federation they want to improve from the three slots they had at the 2020 Tokyo, Paralympic Games to six slots in athletics and at least one in swimming at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

At the World Athletics Championships held in Dubai in 2019, Namibia ended up having one slot for the Tokyo, Paralympic Games and after competing at some Grand Prix locally, the athletes improved their ranking and were awarded two more slots at the Paralympic Games.

Team Namibia departs for Jesolo, Italy on 07 May 2023 from Pretoria, South Africa, where it has been in camp. From Italy, the team will travel to Nottwil, Switzerland on 22 May, before returning to Namibia on 29 May 2023.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

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Farmworker allegedly shot to death during hunting spree near Grootfontein

A 29-year-old farmworker died on Saturday morning after he was accidentally shot by his employer during an alleged hunting spree on Farm Choiganab no. 262 in the Grootfontein district.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) Unit Commander for Community Affairs, Inspector Maureen Mbeha on Sunday told Nampa that the incident occurred at 00h30 and the deceased has been identified by his relatives as Jacob Kache.

It is alleged the suspect and his seven workers including Kache were on a hunting mission of some kudu animals which allegedly feed on his crops of maize and beans inside his farm, when Kache was hit once in the back and died.

“Kache and his colleague reportedly jumped from the back of the vehicle in order to slit the throat of a kudu, while the employer was still continuing to shoot at the same animal, and in the process accidentally shot him to death,' Mbeha said.

The 38-year-old male suspect has been arrested on a culpable homicide charge and is expected to appear in the Grootfontein Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Workers on the farm would normally slit the throat of a hunted animal in order for them to prevent it from blood clotting as the animal meat is meant for consumption, added Mbeha.

She said the police so far confiscated a 3006 hunting rifle which was fitted with a telescope, and suspected to have been used in the shooting, as well as a gun silencer and two packets of live ammunition from the suspect.

The seized items were on Saturday booked at the Grootfontein Police Station as court exhibits.

Police investigation into the matter continues.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

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MME to launch fleet management system

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has announced that it will launch a fleet management system (FMS) on Monday.

The FMS is a solution to the management, monitoring and control of the ministry's fleet with real-time data to improve operational efficiency and enable management to make quick and informed decisions relating to fleet management.

Senior Public Relations Officer in the ministry, Andreas Simon in a media advisory on Sunday said that in 2017 the ministry identified the need to automate the fleet management business processes.

The system specifications were completed and the internal development of the FMS commenced in 2018, he said.

“The ministry views the FMS as a valuable asset to government and would contribute towards the promotion of e-services and innovation in terms of the information and communication technology,” Simon added, noting that the system will significantly contribute to the government initiative on cost-cutting measures.

The system, he further said aims to standardize government fleet management processes to improve service delivery and transparency.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

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NDF man commits suicide at Rundu

A member of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) at Rundu in the Kavango East Region, on Saturday committed suicide by shooting himself while on duty.

The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) Acting Regional Commander in the region, Deputy Commissioner Eino Nambahu confirmed on Sunday that the incident happened at the Rundu Military Base at around 16h30 and the deceased was identified as 30-year-old Jonas Natanael Shilongo.

“It is alleged that the Shilongo booked out a rifle while on duty and this is the rifle he used to commit suicide,” Nambahu said.

It is further reported that the colleagues on duty with the deceased observed that he was not his usual self.

However, they could not tell that the deceased was suicidal and would use the firearm on himself as booking out a rifle was a procedure done when reporting for duty, Nambahu said.

The deceased lifeless body was found by his colleagues.

It is further reported that Shilongo left a suicide note, however, its content cannot be shared.

His next of kin have been informed and police investigation into the matter continues.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

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Namibian Police Force (NamPol) Unit Commander for Community Affairs

A 29-year-old farmworker died on Saturday morning after he was accidentally shot by his employer during an alleged hunting spree on Farm Choiganab no. 262 in the Grootfontein district.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) Unit Commander for Community Affairs, Inspector Maureen Mbeha today told Nampa that the incident occurred at 00h30 and the deceased has been identified by his relatives as Jacob Kache.

It is alleged the suspect and his seven workers including Kache were on a hunting mission of some kudu animals which allegedly feed on his crops of maize and beans inside his farm, when Kache was hit once in the back and died.

“Kache and his colleague reportedly jumped from the back of the vehicle in order to slit the throat of a kudu, while the employer was still continuing to shoot at the same animal, and in the process accidentally shot him to death,' Mbeha said.

The 38-year-old male suspect has been arrested on a culpable homicide charge and is expected to appear in the Grootfontein Magistrate's Court tomorrow.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency