EDITORIAL: Why Namibia heist warrants commission of inquiry
The so-called Namdia diamond heist has been treated, thus far, as a conventional crime scene problem: suspects arrested, charges laid, a CEO dismissed, and assurances issued that the wheels of justice are turning. But this approach fundamentally misunderstands the scale and significance of what has occurred.
More than N$274 million worth of diamonds remains unaccounted for. That alone should shatter any illusion that this is merely a matter for routine criminal prosecution. This was not a smash-and-grab at Okuryangava Stop n’ Shop. It was a catastrophic failure at a national strategic company, with implications that cut to the core of governance and national security.
A criminal investigation, however thorough, can only answer who stole the diamonds and how they did it. What it cannot fully interrogate is why the conditions for such a theft existed in the first place - and who created, tolerated or ignored those conditions.
How does a state-owned, strategically critical diamond trading company end up being guarded by a private security firm of foreign origin instead of the Namibian Police?
The dismissal of Alisa Amupolo as CEO and the arrest of the alleged masterminds may satisfy a public appetite for visible action, but they merely scratch at the surface of a much deeper institutional failure. Leadership accountability does not begin and end with one executive. Where was the board? If members of the current board members had even a modicum of accountability, they would have done the honourable thing and resigned.
Namibia cannot afford to treat this heist as an isolated criminal episode. It is a warning flare about how strategic assets are managed and protected. Until the country confronts the systemic neglect that made this breach possible, arrests will bring closure only to the courtroom - not to the nation.
More than N$274 million worth of diamonds remains unaccounted for. That alone should shatter any illusion that this is merely a matter for routine criminal prosecution. This was not a smash-and-grab at Okuryangava Stop n’ Shop. It was a catastrophic failure at a national strategic company, with implications that cut to the core of governance and national security.
A criminal investigation, however thorough, can only answer who stole the diamonds and how they did it. What it cannot fully interrogate is why the conditions for such a theft existed in the first place - and who created, tolerated or ignored those conditions.
How does a state-owned, strategically critical diamond trading company end up being guarded by a private security firm of foreign origin instead of the Namibian Police?
The dismissal of Alisa Amupolo as CEO and the arrest of the alleged masterminds may satisfy a public appetite for visible action, but they merely scratch at the surface of a much deeper institutional failure. Leadership accountability does not begin and end with one executive. Where was the board? If members of the current board members had even a modicum of accountability, they would have done the honourable thing and resigned.
Namibia cannot afford to treat this heist as an isolated criminal episode. It is a warning flare about how strategic assets are managed and protected. Until the country confronts the systemic neglect that made this breach possible, arrests will bring closure only to the courtroom - not to the nation.
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Namibian Sun
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