Cops accused of dragging feet

Cops accused of dragging feetWitness statements missing after car crash A man whose car was smashed in Windhoek says the City Police and Namibian Police seem to have misplaced the witness statements. Namibian Police (Nampol) and Windhoek City Police officers are accused of not only dragging their feet with regard to a car accident that involved Johan Kruger, but also of handling the matter negligently.

Kruger was involved in a crash on 25 November and the witness statements made on the night of the accident appear to have gone missing.

A City Police traffic officer who took the witness statements on the night of the accident declined to comment to Namibian Sun and referred the newspaper to Nampol's spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi. He refused to identify himself and would neither deny nor confirm whether he was responsible for taking the witness statements.

“We are not allowed to give information to the media, you have to consult our seniors,” said the traffic officer.

He continued, “If we were allowed I could have given you more information about what I heard and I know, but for now I have nothing to say.”

The accident took place at the Auas Road intersection near the Grove Mall.

Kruger told Namibian Sun that he was idling at the traffic light while the lights were red.

When they turned green for him he proceeded and at that moment, another car drove into his vehicle.

The Nampol investigating officer who is handling Kruger's accident case said he didn't have any records regarding the case when he was contacted for comment. “I don't have such records, call me after lunch,” said the officer.

When contacted later he said he did not know anything about the case.

The officer said although he was at the scene on the night of the accident he did not receive any witness statements from the City Police traffic officer and the only thing he did was to give Kruger the accident report number.

The officer said he did not know anything about the accident because he was not the one who had opened the case.

“I don't know the nature of the case and secondly I never received any statements from the traffic officer,” he said.

Kruger, who suffered concussion, expressed dismay about the way the authorities were handling the matter.

“They don't really care at all and they were not interested at all in the case,” said Kruger.

“They are reluctant to help me and the person who broke the law and drove into me is walking around without any consequences.

I do not even know if they tested his blood alcohol level.”

One avenue that may assist Kruger in determining liability is the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund's claims process.

MVA Fund spokesperson Mona-Liza Garises says when the Fund is notified of an accident through its accident response number, it dispatches an emergency response provider and the police to an accident scene. MVA case managers visit hospitals and offer road accident victims claim forms to be submitted to the MVA Fund.

The fund then assesses the claim and determines liability. Kruger has already been through the MVA Fund claims process and says they've been very helpful.

Legal expert Professor Nico Horn says while witness statements in such a case are important, they are not necessarily essential if a prosecution or civil relief is sought.

“A witness statement is an important part of the docket to make a final decision but you don't need that,” said Horn.

Accident scenes are relatively straightforward to piece together.

“But what if the other driver was drunk?” Kruger asked.

“It looks like the police are protecting him.”

Senior Superintendent Adam Eiseb, deputy head of the City Police, advised Kruger to lay an official complaint against the traffic officer.



SHONA NGAVA