Ex-cop arrested for poaching loses appeal about dismissal

A fromer police officer who was kicked out of the Namibian Police after being arrested on rhino-poaching and firearms charges has lost a Supreme Court appeal about his dismissal.

Former detective inspector Wersimus Haipa’s appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed in a judgement delivered on Friday.

Haipa appealed against a High Court judgement in which an application by him to have his discharge from the police reviewed and set aside was dismissed in May this year.

Former Namibian Police inspector general Sebastian Ndeitunga discharged Haipa from the police in October 2021, after a board of inquiry decided that Haipa was not fit to remain in the police and recommended his discharge to the police chief.

Ndeitunga convened a board of inquiry after Haipa was arrested in January 2020 on a charge of conspiring to illegally hunt two highly endangered black rhinoceroses in Etosha National Park.

Haipa was attached to the Namibian Police’s Protected Resources Subdivision in the Oshana region before his arrest.

In the Supreme Court’s judgement, chief justice Peter Shivute noted that it was alleged that Haipa supplied firearms, ammunition and food to poachers who targeted rhinos in Etosha.

Haipa was also charged with possessing an unlicensed pistol and ammunition, which were found at his home.

A part of the board of inquiry’s proceedings took place in Haipa’s absence, after he decided to walk out of the hearing in September 2021.

Shivute recounted that one of the witnesses who testified during the hearing said Haipa was not present at the scene where two black rhinos were poached at Etosha, but that he conspired with other people to commit the crime.

The witness also said one of the alleged poachers alleged he had sold and delivered rhino horns to Haipa for some time and that Haipa had encouraged him to bring more rhino horns to him in exchange for money.

After Ndeitunga decided to discharge Haipa from the police, Haipa appealed to the minister of home affairs, immigration, safety and security, Albert Kawana, against his discharge.

Kawana dismissed his appeal in February last year.

Shivute commented in his judgement that Haipa “shot himself in the foot” by walking out of the board of inquiry hearing.

“He should have continued to participate in the hearing and raised whatever he perceived to have been procedural irregularities,” the chief justice said.

None of the grounds on which Haipa’s review application against the inspector general’s decision to discharge him and Kawana’s decision to dismiss his appeal would have swayed the judge that dealt with his matter in the High Court to rule in his favour, Shivute concluded.

He stated: “The inspector general is under a statutory duty to regulate discipline and efficient functioning of the police force by ensuring that police officers are beyond reproach and serve the public with integrity.

“He must also ensure that the police force is not infiltrated by criminal elements to undermine its effectiveness and efficiency from within its ranks.”

It was clear that the charges against Haipa were serious, Shivute added.

He commented: “[Haipa] was accused of egregious conduct of acting in cahoots with poachers to illegally hunt an endangered species which he was assigned to protect.”

Haipa’s conduct conflicted with his status as a senior detective assigned to a sensitive unit in the police, and was bound to undermine public confidence in the police, Shivute said.

He continued: “It goes without saying that a person alleged to have been working in cahoots with poachers to commit illegal hunting of a specially protected resource cannot be expected to discharge police duties efficiently and effectively. The board of inquiry was entirely justified in so finding.”

Deputy chief justice Petrus Damaseb and appeal judge Dave Smuts agreed with the chief justice’s judgement.

Lawyers Sisa Namandje and Taimi Iileka-Amupanda represented Haipa in the appeal.

Deputy government attorney Jabulani Ncube represented the minister, inspector general and chairperson of the board of inquiry.