Helena Johannes
The Popular Democratic Movement Youth League (PDMYL) leadership members from the Khomas region is immediately calling on the government to introduce a death penalty law for perpetrators of Gender Based Violence (GBV) including rape and human trafficking in Namibia.
They said this in a press statement provided by the PDMYL Khomas regional chairperson Alpha Uzera.
“We are therefore of the strong opinion that rapists, perpetrators of Gender-based violence and human traffickers should receive the death penalty as punishment for their barbaric acts,” he said.
Uzera added while respecting that people who commit this kind of crimes also have fundamental rights protected under the Namibian constitution, the youth league think the rights of the accused person’s should not exceed those of their victims. Uzera said the youth league in Khomas region is utmost concerned over the ever-increasing number of GBV related crimes, particularly in Windhoek. “Our women and children live in constant fear as our streets are filled with psychopaths, who are hungry for blood and sex, and are ready to prey on our loved ones. Abusers, rapists and human traffickers have declared war on our women, our children, our grandmothers and even our babies. There is no other way to describe it, other than to say that it is a war,” he said.
The announcement follows President Hage Geingob’s speech read on his behalf by the Governor of the Omaheke Region, Pijoo Nganate at the funeral of the 29-year-old Andy Kazekondjo. Kazekondjo was shot by an intruder inside his house while trying to save her sister from being raped. The President in his speech said criminals who perpetrate violent crimes have no place in Namibia, and the government will increase measures to prevent the unnecessary death of innocent people, especially during this high increase of crimes.
Uzera added that Namibia has become a rapist’s haven, and “The statistics do not lie. Between 2016 and 2019, the Namibian Police recorded 3 164 rape cases. This translates into 1 054 rape cases per year, or about three rape incidents per day. These are unacceptable and shocking statistics for a country of just over 2, 8 million people.”
He said the PDMYL in the Khomas region will march on Monday, 05 October, to the Ministry of Justice to give their petition calling for the introduction of death penalty for perpetrators.
