Hertta-Maria Amutenja
An official from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism was amongst three other suspects that were arrested on suspicion of illegally hunting a blue wildebeest in Dan Viljoen Park near Windhoek.
“The incident happened on Tuesday at a roadblock between Dan Viljoen and Windhoek. The Ministry condemns the incident particularly, the alleged involvement of a staff member,” said the ministry’s spokesperson Romeo Muyunda.
They were arrested on Tuesday at the roadblock, west of Windhoek, leading to the game park.
The official who is alleged to be stationed at the park as an assistant game ranger for the environment ministry and the other suspects were arrested with a whole carcass of the wildebeest in the boot of their sedan.
Muyunda added that it is the ministry’s responsibility to ensure the preservation and wise use of the wildlife resources for the benefit of both present and future Namibian citizens however the guiding principle was broken in this incident.
“The staff members of the Ministry are important and crucial in the quest to achieve our strategic objective and mandate. Therefore, we always encourage the Ministry’s staff to observe high moral grounds and reject temptations like participating in illegal activities that contravenes our values and principles as an institution. We urge that law should take its course and justice must prevail in this case,” he added.
