Police get cold feet

The Okahao police, called to a drowning incident at the weekend, watched on haplessly as an Amarika man and two others removed the lifeless body of a 6-year-old boy, who died in a well while trying to fetch water. The police told Namibian Sun that they were afraid to jump into the well as it looked dangerous.
The boy has been identified as Martin Andiyatuye Iipinge, a learner at the Amarika Primary School. Iipinge went missing on Saturday evening and was only discovered by people who went to collect water from the well the next morning.
People at the village claimed that the boy had not been attending school regularly for the past few weeks, since the school feeding programme was suspended.
This lack of food has forced pupils to pick wild fruit at a local conservancy while they usually visit the well upon their return.
The latest drowning at Amarika has put the spotlight on the problem of understaffed police, where only a few trained police divers are contracted in to accommodate the northern regions of Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and the Kunene region.
So far eight people have lost their lives by drowning in the Amarika well. When Iipinge’s body was discovered on Sunday morning, the police could also not be immediately alerted due to the poor network reception in the area.
To further compound matters, the nurse at a nearby clinic was also not available.


As a result, a local farmer had to drive about 85km to Okahao to alert the police and when the police finally arrived at the scene, they asked community members to assist them in removing the body from the well.
The village headman Salom Hamutenya said it was reported to him that the police officers had in fact refused to get into the well, instead requesting members of the community to remove the body.
“I was at church the time when they arrived at around 13:00, but the report that was given to me is that it was community members who did the police’s work of getting the body out of the well,” Amutenya said. Another community member who was present during the unfolding drama, said the police officers told them that they were just “police officers and not divers”.
Consequently, three cattle herders had volunteered, a fact that was confirmed by Omusati police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Linekela Shikongo. “Those wells are very dangerous and our members are not trained divers. For this reason they asked members of the community who are familiar with the well to volunteer, to help them get the body out and that is what happened. If it was not for the community members, we would have called for divers from the Oshana Region,” Shikongo said. Police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga yesterday confirmed that the force was grappling with a shortage of trained divers, adding that the community members did the right thing by assisting the police.
“Trained police divers are only in Oshakati. If community members could not help the police to get the body out of the well, they could have just gone back and requested for divers from Oshakati. Police officers have to respond to the call as soon as possible whether they have capacity for the situation or not. They can then report to those who are trained,” Ndeitunga said.

Too expensive

Namibian Sun has reported several times on the plight of the people of Amarika in recent months. Despite the presence of a N$200 million desalination plant, community leaders had called on government to supply them with drinking water since the well water in the area is too saline. The village headman told Namibian Sun that the desalination plant has been repaired, but the rural water supply is too expensive. “Since the plant started operating again, rural water supply is charging us a lot of money and many people here cannot afford water any more, that is why people are still taking risks to get water from wells,” Amutenya said.

ILENI NANDJATO