Traffic court to open next year

A traffic court under the administration of the Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the Office of the Judiciary and the City of Windhoek, is to be established next year.

According to media reports, the establishment of the traffic court comes after City Police chief Abraham Kanime approached the Ministry of Justice on the possibility of having courts that would solely focus on traffic violations in the Khomas Region.

The City was then tasked to construct the court building and hand it over to the Ministry of Justice.

City spokesperson Lydia Amutenya said the court would be situated at the City Police premises at the intersection of Bismarck Street and Sam Nujoma Drive.

“The building has been renovated and handed over to the Ministry of Justice,” Amutenya said.

The spokesperson in the Office of the Judiciary, Yvette Hüsselmann, said the court was expected to become operational next year.

“His Lordship Peter Shivute, Chief Justice of the Republic of Namibia, has expressed his hope that the envisaged traffic court shall be fully-functional by the very latest March 2018,” she said.

She added that the logistics team, comprised of staff members from the Office of the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice and the City of Windhoek, would have their work cut out for them to ensure that the deadline is met.

The deputy chief of the City Police's Traffic Management Unit, Adam Eiseb, said there were currently 47 315 warrants of arrest pending in Windhoek alone, of which 17 000 are outstanding warrants for the arrest of taxi drivers.

NAMPA