Weapons amnesty extended The government has extended the period of amnesty to allow for the surrendering of illegal weapons and ammunition to 18 February next year. To date, 925 firearms, 44 073 rounds of ammunition and 66 explosives have been handed over to the Namibian police.
The statistics indicate that a total number of 237 people surrendered illegal weapons and ammunition to the police.
Of these, 81 people (32.4%) surrendered illegal weapons voluntarily and this also includes museums that decided that it is no longer in their interest to keep these weapons.
Furthermore, 72 people (30.4%) who inherited weapons surrendered these to the police while 47 people (19.8%) surrendered weapons they inherited from the previous government.
There were also 18 weapons (7.6%) that police found in the bush, 16 (6.8%) weapons that were found on farms, while two (0.8%) surrendered were collector items and one weapon (0.1%) was from a hunter. According to a statement issued by the police, all firearms were verified with the Firearms Data System, but only 24 firearms were found to be registered on the system while the rest are illegal.
According to the data provided by the police, the majority of firearms that were collected were from the Khomas Region (694) followed by the Otjozondjupa (50) and the Omusati (45) regions.
With regard to ammunition, the regions where the most ammunition was handed over were Otjozondjupa (20 479) Khomas (14 117) and Oshikoto (4099).
In the Otjozondjupa Region, 45 explosives were collected and 21 explosives in Khomas.
The Kavango East Region was the only region where no firearms, weapons or ammunitions were collected or surrendered during the amnesty period.
The government in August this year declared a period of amnesty to surrender illegal weapons from 18 August to 18 November.
The police expressed their gratitude to the public and the individuals who surrendered firearms, ammunitions and explosives during this period.
ELLANIE SMIT