Alleged harassment of fishermen by anti-poaching unit condemned

The chairman of the Namibian Lives Matter Movement (NLMM), Sinvula Mudabeti, has called for members of the anti-poaching unit in the Zambezi region to be charged with malicious damage to property.

Mudabeti also denounces the alleged harassment of three fishermen and damage to their property in the Lyanshulu area by anti-poaching unit officers.

It is said law-enforcement officers harassed Matota Limbo, Limbo Munanzi and Hoster Mwanambwe in the Bwaylerwa conservancy last week.

The members of the anti-poaching unit allegedly shot at their canoes and confiscated their fish, both dry and fresh, despite the three having been issued fishing permits.

Speaking to The Namibian, Mudabeti describes the incident as a violation of the fishermen’s rights.

“Fishing is a means of livelihood which has sent many people to school, and cannot be stopped by gun-wielding officers who are either ignorant of interpreting the law, or are applying the law selectively.

“We do not support the overuse of our resources, such as fishing, without permits and using expired permits, but we also do not condone the abuse of power by security agencies that are trained to operate with fairness and sound judgement.

“Consequently, we caution the anti-poaching unit to desist from abuse of their powers against innocent and hardworking fishermen,” he says.

Mudabeti says, incidents like this give the Botswana Defence Force permission to mistreat and kill Namibian fishermen due to the country’s security forces abusing its own citizens.

“Livelihood and security should be balanced. We cannot expose our people to poverty by having security agents who are insensitive and inhuman in their mandate to maintain law and order.

“Our people respect the police because we believe they are fair and law-abiding. When the police become lawbreakers, citizens would not respect them, and thus the country would be lawless,” he says.

Mudabeti calls on Zambezi regional governor Lawrence Sampofu to ensure “his people are protected from heavy-handed security agencies that are hell-bent on instilling fear in the minds of hard-working citizens”.

Zambezi regional police crime investigations coordinator deputy commissioner Kenneth Simbwae has confirmed the incident.

However, he said no official case has been opened with the police yet.

“The only information available to us is that one of the fishermen got his fish back after the validity of his permit was proven, while the other two are yet to provide fisheries officials with fishing permits,” Simbwae said.

He, however, said further information can be acquired from Sampofu, who held a meeting with the Lyanshulu community and law-enforcement agencies on Friday.

Questions sent to Sampofu went unanswered.

Community member Bashupi Maloboka told The Namibian it is unacceptable that the anti-poaching unit harasses them, while they are in possession of legal documents.

He said this must now come to an end as it has been happening for too long.

“Our own security forces cannot treat us like that in our own land; we will not tolerate it anymore. We are already being harassed by the BDF in our motherland, so it’s really too much.

“We hope that after the meeting we had with the law enforcement agencies and the governor, things will change for the better. Fishing is our livelihood, and we should be able to do it freely, provided that we have the necessary permits,” he said.