Oshikoto Regional Council says that it is not sure whether there is any truth in the story saying that food items which seemingly were stolen from its drought relief food programme were found at a certain farm.
Media reports last week said that it was the police who initially reported that they had found stolen items which included 34 bags of drought relief maize, two boxes of cooking oil, seven 24-packs of 400g tins of fish and two bags of red beans, found at Leeu Pos Farm in Guinas Constituency.
In a statement released to the media yesterday Chief Regional Officer for Oshikoto, Ms Christella Mwenyo, said that the newspaper which reported that drought relief food worth N$100 000 were discovered at a farm did not provide helpful details about the alleged stolen food items “to enable the Regional Council to instantly pronounce itself on the matter.
“It is not clear whether the alleged stolen food items belong to Oshikoto Region or they were stolen from elsewhere,” Mwenyo said.
“Equally, at this stage, the Regional Council did not receive any formal report of missing food items from our warehouse, constituency offices or a formal crime report from the Namibian Police.”
Mwenyo however added that on hearing about the news of the said stolen food, “the Regional Council immediately constituted its own internal investigations which are currently in full swing, to identify the circumstances under which the alleged food theft took place and to ensure that, the necessary steps are taken against the alleged culprits.”
She added: “Although the Oshikoto Regional Council in its strongest terms condemns any act of stealing from the public, at this point, the Regional Council is not in a position to pronounce itself on the matter, due to ongoing investigations.
“Therefore, the public is urged to remain calm and entrust the Regional Council and other crime investigating bodies in the Region to do thorough investigations and ensure that the alleged culprits are brought to book.”
In the photo: Maize bags, for illustrative purpose.
