Nearly 200 farmers on Monday staged a peaceful demonstration at the magistrate’s court in Otjiwarongo to oppose the granting of bail to four suspects arrested last week after they were allegedly caught transporting an ox carcass on the Kalkfeld-Otjiwarongo road.

The commercial farmers also handed over a petition to the Otjiwarongo Control Public Prosecutor, Obert Masendeke, who promised to channel it to the relevant offices.

The suspects – three men and one woman – were expected to appear in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court for their bail application on Monday.

In their petition, the farmers said the daily stock theft and poaching are crippling their farming activities.

“We are operating on a loss. In the Kalkfeld area alone, we have lost over N.dollars 1.3 million since January this year due to stock theft and poaching incidents,” said the farmers.

Granting of bail to these four suspects should not be entertained by the court, they said.

One of the concerned farmers, Gunther Karl, in an interview with Nampa said two of the four suspects allegedly entered a farm in the Kalkfeld area illegally on 05 December 2021 and slaughtered an ox valued at N.dollars 13 000 on the farm.

“After they skinned it, a vehicle was called and it collected the carcass,” he said.

Members of the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) in the area reportedly became suspicious of the vehicle’s movements and they decided to stop and search it. The fresh carcass was found and the police were called.

“We are demanding for action against these forms of theft from us and this immediate and drastic action should also deal with those caught transporting and selling stolen meat,” said Karl.

The farmers have also launched a petition online calling on other concerned farmers countrywide to sign it so a strong fight against stock theft and poaching can continue for the next two months, said Karl.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency