Angola yet to commit to 2007 extradition treaty
03 June 2021 | Local News
Kenya Kambowe
RUNDU
While Namibia has ratified an extradition treaty agreement with Angola, its counterpart is yet to indicate that it has done so.
The agreement will bring an end to suspected criminals fleeing Namibia through the porous border to evade the wrath of the law, and will cut down on the long period victims have to wait for justice to prevail.
Namibian Sun this week established that the treaty between the two countries was signed around 2007 and ratified in Namibia in 2009. This was confirmed by the justice ministry.
“Namibia and Angola have signed a treaty on extradition. Namibia has ratified the said agreement. Angola is yet to indicate to Namibia whether they have ratified the said treaty,” the ministry said.
The justice ministry, however, indicated that in the absence of Angola’s ratification, the countries can make use of the SADC protocol on extradition.
Families in the dark
Amid Angola’s sluggishness, victims’ families remain in the dark after suspects flee to that country.
One such case took place on 16 August 2019 at Sikali village in the Kavango West Region where a man, who is an Angolan national, allegedly hacked his 23-year-old Namibian girlfriend, Naimi Ngambo Kalenga, to death with an axe.
The suspect fled the scene and managed to cross the border into Angola where he was arrested, the police confirmed at the time.
It is suspected that he crossed into Angola through the Okavango River, which borders the two countries.
Ever since, the victim’s poverty-stricken family has been hoping that justice will be served for their loved one, who was the breadwinner.
Kalenga’s mother now has to take care of the three children born out of the fateful relationship, and feeds them with meagre funds she gets from the state in the form of a social grant.
The family remains in the dark about the case. They told Namibian Sun all they were told in 2019 is that the suspect was arrested in Angola, and nothing has changed since then.
In a series of articles since 2019, Namibian Sun quoted Police Chief, Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga, as saying the suspect’s process of extradition has commenced; however, he was not certain at the time whether an extradition treaty existed between Namibia and Angola.
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RUNDU
While Namibia has ratified an extradition treaty agreement with Angola, its counterpart is yet to indicate that it has done so.
The agreement will bring an end to suspected criminals fleeing Namibia through the porous border to evade the wrath of the law, and will cut down on the long period victims have to wait for justice to prevail.
Namibian Sun this week established that the treaty between the two countries was signed around 2007 and ratified in Namibia in 2009. This was confirmed by the justice ministry.
“Namibia and Angola have signed a treaty on extradition. Namibia has ratified the said agreement. Angola is yet to indicate to Namibia whether they have ratified the said treaty,” the ministry said.
The justice ministry, however, indicated that in the absence of Angola’s ratification, the countries can make use of the SADC protocol on extradition.
Families in the dark
Amid Angola’s sluggishness, victims’ families remain in the dark after suspects flee to that country.
One such case took place on 16 August 2019 at Sikali village in the Kavango West Region where a man, who is an Angolan national, allegedly hacked his 23-year-old Namibian girlfriend, Naimi Ngambo Kalenga, to death with an axe.
The suspect fled the scene and managed to cross the border into Angola where he was arrested, the police confirmed at the time.
It is suspected that he crossed into Angola through the Okavango River, which borders the two countries.
Ever since, the victim’s poverty-stricken family has been hoping that justice will be served for their loved one, who was the breadwinner.
Kalenga’s mother now has to take care of the three children born out of the fateful relationship, and feeds them with meagre funds she gets from the state in the form of a social grant.
The family remains in the dark about the case. They told Namibian Sun all they were told in 2019 is that the suspect was arrested in Angola, and nothing has changed since then.
In a series of articles since 2019, Namibian Sun quoted Police Chief, Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga, as saying the suspect’s process of extradition has commenced; however, he was not certain at the time whether an extradition treaty existed between Namibia and Angola.
[email protected]
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