Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Six cases are under investigation involving individuals accused of stealing food meant for the drought relief programme.
The cases,reported in the Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, Ohangwena, Kavango West, and Zambezi regions involve people who were entrusted with distributing food during the implementation of the programmme.
Prime minister Elijah Ngurare revealed this in parliament recently.
In May, three people were arrested in connection with defrauding the Namibian government of over N$4 million in a failed deal involving undelivered drought relief food and appeared in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate’s Court.
The suspects are Jimmu Simataa, an employee of the Zambezi Regional Council, along with Guriron Siseho Siseho and Grodonah Nankole Liswaniso.
For the 2024–25 financial year, the government allocated N$825 million to the drought relief programme.
Of this, N$600 million was for food assistance, while N$25 million for seed and horticultural provision, according to the sixth Cabinet decision meeting.
Last year, Oshikoto police launched an investigation into the theft of drought relief food.
Johannes Shaanika Mupetami, a 31-year-old Namibian man, was arrested on 21 May after drought relief food was confiscated at Leeu Pos farm.
In the same year, police also arrested Zenecia Nghitamuka, an employee at the Tsumeb Constituency Office, in connection with the same case.
Her arrest followed reports that drought relief food worth an estimated N$100,000 had been stolen in the Oshikoto region.
Ngurare said government will discontinue the 2024/2025 drought relief programme, following improved rainfall across the country.
The programme was introduced as a response to the El Niño phenomenon and extremely low rainfall during the 2023/2024 agricultural season.
This led to widespread crop failure, depleted rangelands, and severe water shortages in all 14 regions. The crisis affected the livelihoods of many Namibians and threatened the food security of 384,935 households, equal to 1.4 million people.
To respond to the crisis, former President Nangolo Mbumba declared a state of emergency on 22 May 2024.
The Cabinet later approved a national drought relief program to run from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, with an estimated cost of N$1.3 billion.
Ngurare said improved rainfall has led to better harvests and grazing conditions, with households now able to sustain themselves until the next harvesting season.
“Given these positive prospects, the Office of the Prime Minister will advocate for continued mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction initiatives at all levels and will embark on various targeted resilience-building programmes in collaboration with all line ministries and development partners to enhance food production through drilling of boreholes, excavation of earth dams and livelihood diversification,” said Ngurare.
During the program, each household received one 20kg bag of unsifted maize meal or mahangu, four 400g tins of fish (or an alternative of 750g soy mince, 2kg beans, or 1.5kg meat), and one 750ml bottle of cooking oil.
Ngurare said the ministry of environment, forestry and tourism allocated 86 elephants to support the programme.
Of these, 71 elephants were culled in Kavango West, Kavango East, Zambezi, Ohangwena, Oshana, Oshikoto, Erongo, and Otjozondjupa.
The culling produced about 142,000 kilograms of meat, which was distributed in 1.5 kg packs to drought-affected communities.
