Two Nambibian businessmen have been released on bail of N$50,000 each following their initial appearance at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court to face charges of illegal possession and attempted dealing in four rhino horns.
Tangi Sheefeni, Amon Namwandi and Jairos Shaalukeni were arrested a week ago in the capital Windhoek by police acting on a tip-off that the two were allegedly looking for buyers for four rhino horns.
On Monday, the two appeared before Windhoek magistrate Jermaine Muchali where they denied the charges. They were released and ordered to reappear on September 26, with stringent bail terms and reporting conditions.
Each of the two men was ordered to surrender their travel documents, report to the nearest police station three times a week and not to leave the Oshana, Omusati, Ohwangwena and Kunene regions without informing the police.
The arrest of the two came two weeks after two other Namibian businessmen were arrested in Zambia while trying to sell three rhino horns, which were also sourced from Namibia. The two were arrested with Zambian accomplices who are serving members of the Zambian Air Force (ZAF).
However, the case took a new twist last week when police in Zambia arrested a senior intelligence officer of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) for allegedly stealing the rhino horns from a safe where they were being kept prior to presentation in court as exhibits in the trial of the two Namibian and ZAF officers.
Two of the three horns were recovered from the parks intelligence officer’s house and he admitted that he had already sold the other one. An unspecified amount of cash, believed to have been the proceeds of the illegal horn sale, was seized from the suspect. He has also been released on bail with a trial-within-a-trial set to continue next month.
South Africa Today Africa – Southern Africa Namibia News
