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A Voi court has sentenced three people found guilty of poaching 187 dikdiks in Tsavo East National Park to 16 years in prison each. In the ruling made on Monday, the court also imposed a fine of Sh2.2 million. Kaviha Charo, Katana Unda and Bugo Suluhu will serve their jail terms at Manyani Maximum Security Prison in Voi, Taita Taveta County.

Three people accused of poaching 187 dikdiks will spend another week in remand in Voi, Taita Taveta County, after the court pushed their sentencing to July 5. Voi Principal Magistrate Cecilia Kithinji ordered that the suspects be detained for one more week. The accused - Kaviha Charo, Katana Unda and Bugo Suluhu - pleaded guilty to three charges related to poaching wildlife on June 21. They were arrested with the animals in Akales, Galana Ranch, in Tsavo East, Kilifi County.

Three suspected poachers arrested with 187 dik-diks in Tsavo East were on Monday charged at the Voi Law Court.

In its efforts to boost the much-needed security at the conservancy, N≠a Jaqna conservancy management committee member Lara Diez said they have added 12 new guards to help curb poaching that of late has seen a rapid increase at the park. "Poaching has become an ever-increasing problem and the new game guards will increase vigilance and monitoring in the conservancy. The delicate balance between wildlife management, licensed hunting and the community is disturbed greatly by poaching,” Diez said in a statement yesterday.

The human rights organisation says citizens are unsafe in police custody. Human rights organisation NamRights says it is becoming increasingly alarmed by widespread allegations of torture and other cruel treatment of ordinary citizens by the Namibian police and other law-enforcement agencies. The executive director of NamRights, Phil Ya Nangoloh, says the organisation has reasonable cause to believe that there is evidence that citizens in general are no longer safe in police custody.

Suspected rhino and elephant poachers have gone missing in Etosha National Park after an alleged shootout with the anti-poaching unit of the Namibian police.

The head of the Namibian Police, Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, said he would dismiss with contempt any claim that the government does not have a real commitment to root out the poaching of Namibia’s wildlife. “Cabinet has allocated a lot of resources to combat and eradicate poaching. It is a costly exercise. This is an indication of how serious government is,” he stressed. Ndeitunga said it is clear that the poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibian national parks is a well-orchestrated and well-funded transnational organised crime.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Namibian Police have requested evidence from Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) as well as the executive director of Namrights, Phil ya Nangoloh, to substantiate allegations of political leaders’ involvement in rhino and elephant poaching. At a joint press briefing on Wednesday, Minister Pohamba Shifeta and police chief Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga requested ya Nangoloh to submit the said evidence before the end of December.

While there is no conclusive evidence of illegal poaching, members of the Tsiseb constituency in the Erongo Region say wildlife in the area is being decimated by unscrupulous elements.