Hertta-Maria Amutenja
The death of a five-year-old child in Otavi has reignited discussions about the effectiveness of Namibia’s traffic law enforcement.
Clemesia Hanes lost her life when an unlicensed driver, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a yard, killing her and injuring three other children.
The driver did not possess a valid license and was reportedly intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Road safety activist Felix Tjozongoro has called for Namibia’s traffic law enforcement to be removed from the Namibian Police and placed under the Ministry of Transport, citing ineffective enforcement and resource constraints.
“Road traffic laws are made by the minister of transport, but it’s the police that must enforce them. If the minister is unhappy with how they are enforced, all he can do is call his counterpart for coffee, and it ends there,” he said.
Tjozongoro said while the country’s road laws are adequate, other police priorities impede their enforcement.
“The challenge could be with the courts as they follow the lenient side of the law, which states that everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Tjozongoro compared the case to that of Johannes Dippenaar, who was convicted and sentenced for culpable homicide in a high-profile road accident case last year.
“The Otavi driver must be taken through the same route as Dippenaar, where the courts took a bold stance and sentenced him to jail for the ‘murder’ of those innocent souls,” he said.
He also raised concerns over the Namibian Police’s capacity to enforce road laws, saying the traffic law division responsible for enforcing traffic laws is under-resourced.
“In 2016, the Ministry of Transport stated that Namibia had 366 000 vehicles in relation to 351 traffic officers under Nampol. That’s a ratio of one officer per 745 vehicles, which is madness,” he said.
He urged the incoming president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, to place traffic law enforcement under the Ministry of Transport.
“The president-elect is the patron of road safety in Namibia. She should do the right thing and ensure the ministry has direct control over traffic officers,” he said.
Otavi’s mayor, Issac !Hoaeb said the town council has implemented several measures to improve road safety.
“We have installed speed humps and traffic signs in most residential areas. A contractor is currently on-site conducting road maintenance and placing additional traffic signage,” he said.
He added that the council is reviewing its bylaws to strengthen enforcement and collaborating with law enforcement agencies.
“We are continuously looking into stricter enforcement of vehicle roadworthiness and the installation of critical road safety infrastructure such as pedestrian crossings and streetlights,” the mayor said.
