Staff Reporter
14 June 2011
Namibia’s oldest political party, Swanu, is not in favour of an appeal that the Prosecutor General has launched against a High Court ruling in which the severe jail sentences prescribed by the Stock Theft Act were declared unconstitutional three months ago.
The Prosecutor General is challenging the High Court’s ruling in an appeal lodged with the Supreme Court.
In the ruling, given on March 10, Acting Judge Harald Geier and Judge Kato van Niekerk declared the sections of the Stock Theft Act which prescribe severe prison terms for people convicted of stock theft as unconstitutional.
The section stating that anyone convicted of stealing livestock valued at more than N$500 should be sentenced to not less than 20 years’ imprisonment if the person is a first-time offender, and a section stating that any person convicted of stock theft for a second or subsequent time must be sentenced to not less than 30 years in jail was unconstitutional, they said.
The court left intact another section of the Stock Theft Act which states that a first-time offender convicted of stealing livestock – excluding poultry – valued at less than N$500 should be sentenced to not less than two years’ imprisonment.
The law also states that a court may impose a lighter sentence than those prescribed on someone found guilty of stealing livestock if the court finds there are “substantial and compelling circumstances” present to warrant the imposition of such a lesser sentence.
In a statement last week, Swanu commented that it, too, views the sentences that have been declared unconstitutional “as unfair, unconstitutional and unjustifiable for crimes of that nature”. The party also stated: “We believe the High Court ruling of March 10 was fair and just.”
Gerson Veii, advisor to Swanu President Usutuaije Maamberua, commented: “Experience proves that it is not harsh sentences that decrease stock theft but comprehensive and well-coordinated anti-stock theft campaigns involving police and the community. A proper well-managed and well-monitored rehabilitation mechanism for convicts to be turned into productive members of society will and can be another method which correctional services may explore.”
“Swanu does not promote or condone stock theft or any other criminal activities of any nature. (…) However, we believe in the fair, just and justifiable prosecution and legal practices for those found guilty of committing any offence and violating the laws of this country.”
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