The Namibia Correctional Services (NCS) is hosting an Angolan delegation to verify the nationality of Angolan nationals incarcerated in Namibia who wish to serve the remainder of their sentence back home.
Commissioner-General Raphael Hamunyela said 184 Angolan nationals are held in Namibian correctional facilities.
Of these, 180 are sentenced inmates, while 4 are awaiting trial.
The population includes 181 men and 3 women.
Hamunyela said 107 inmates have submitted applications to be transferred to Angola.
Of the applicants, 17 have the required national identification documents.
73 inmates indicated they are not willing to be transferred, while 4 are ineligible because they are awaiting trial.
The Angolan delegation, consisting of 12 members, is visiting the Windhoek Correctional Facility and the Windhoek Female Correctional Facility to commence verification of inmates.
"Offences committed by Angolan nationals in Namibia include stock theft, immigration offences , rape, escape, dealing or possession of drugs, housebreaking, assault, murder, offences related to nature conservation, theft, and possession of illicit goods," says Hamunyela.
Hamunyela said the matter was discussed during the Senior Officials Meeting of the Angola-Namibia Bi-National Commission (BNC) held in Luanda in March 2024, which led to the establishment of the joint verification exercise.
The Correctional Services said the oldest inmate is 77 years old and is serving a 14-year sentence for murder.
The average age of inmates at the Windhoek Correctional Facility is between 29 and 38 years.
Twenty-nine inmates are serving life sentences.
In terms of sentence lengths, 286 inmates are serving 5 years or more.
110 inmates are serving sentences between one year and eight months and two years and six months, and 415 inmates are serving less than one month.
Figures on the most prevalent crimes at the facility show 337 inmates incarcerated for murder, 304 for rape, 134 for housebreaking, and 115 for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The verification process is ongoing as Namibia and Angola work to implement the transfer agreement.