Day: June 12, 2023

A seven-year-old boy died on Friday after being hit by his grandfather’s car in the Omuthiya area.

Simon Namugongo was playing in the yard of his home at Amukulungundju village when he was hit by the car as his grandfather was reversing out of the driveway.

Namugongo suffered serious head injuries and died on the scene.

The grandfather, 63-year-old Peter Namugongo, was arrested and charged with culpable homicide. He is due to appear in court this week.

The police also reported that a 30-year-old man was found unconscious and bleeding from his ears on the side of the road in Katima Mulilo on Friday. He is believed to have been assaulted by unknown suspects.

The man was taken to hospital and is in critical condition. Police investigations are ongoing and no arrests have been made.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund of Namibia has recorded nine suspected fraudulent claims valued at N.dollars 3.6 million over the past five years.

A media statement issued Monday by the MVA said of the nine cases the actual loss amounts to N.dollars 874 406, of which the majority are related to medical treatment of persons who would otherwise not qualify as beneficiaries.

It said four cases have been reported to the Namibian Police Force while five are yet to be reported, following preliminary internal investigations.

The statement further indicated the fund was able to save N.dollars 2.7 million through its internal fraud detection mechanisms and recovered N.dollars 48 000.

“Historically, fraudsters were specifically attracted to the cash grants, especially the injury grant as well as payments towards loss of income and loss of support, however, due to the fund’s resolve to treat people in the shortest possible time, we have seen a surge in medical related fraud due to facts that have been tampered with from the scene of the crash,” it noted.

It said the fraudulent cases include making false statements regarding injuries and the nature of the crash to get more access to medical treatment and more payout as well as concealing accidents’ facts to avoid limitation to certain benefits and falsification of income statements.

The statement further noted that over the years, MVA Fund has invested in detection mechanisms through various risk mitigating strategies including capacity building, as well as the claims management system that assists in this regard, and have seen a significant reduction in fraudulent activities after payment.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

NamPower has announced its discontinuation of the disconnection plan for defaulting customers until August, as the government implements interventional measures to assist the power utility to collect the money owed to them.

In a media release issued by NamPower on Monday, the company said the government has set in motion a programme, until the end of August, that will implement needed measures to assist them in collecting the money owed to them from their customers.

It will therefore cease with the disconnection of electricity to defaulting customers.

The disconnection of electricity to defaulting customers was part of NamPower’s debt collection plan, aimed at settling large debts from some of their customers.

The disconnection plan included scheduled electrical disconnections at designated areas that had unsettled debts.

NamPower added that this decision was made last week during a consultative meeting between the NamPower Board of Directors and Management and the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises.

Meanwhile, NamPower is still encouraging defaulting customers to settle their debt.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency