By Mbatjiua Ngavirue
WINDHOEK
The rigid and immovable Namibian Police hierarchy hampers the smooth functioning of the Women and Child Protection Unit (WACPU) at Otjiwarongo, according to commanding officer Detective Sergeant Daniel Snewe.
The strict hierarchy within the police force prevents things from moving, and WACPU from implementing its work plans.
Snewe said this when briefing members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social and Community Development during their outreach programme in Otjozondjupa Region recently.
He proposed the commander of the unit should be an officer with at least the rank of inspector, making the person part of the regional police management structure.
At present, there are three ranks between the WACPU commander and ranks that are part of regional police management.
Chairperson of the parliamentary committee Elia Kaiyamo sympathised with Snewe, saying he was aware of the problems created by the police command structure.
The work of the unit, Snewe said, was multi-disciplinary involving personnel from various ministries.
He suggested that in the long-term it might be more practical to have WACPU fall under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.
The ministry could then employ its own qualified investigators, in the same way the Ministry of Environment and Tourism employs its own investigators.
The task of WACPU in Otjiwarongo includes attending to domestic violence complaints, child abuse and rape cases.
The unit has a staff complement of five, including three detective sergeants and two constables.
They have three officers specially trained to deal with domestic violence cases.
Similar to many other government institutions, a lack of resources hampers the work of the unit.
The regional council donated virtually all the equipment in the office except for the computer, which came from Unicef.
The printer for the computer has been out of order for the past two years.
WACPU however receives no budget for maintaining the equipment.
For rape cases, duplicates have to be made of all documents in a docket, but the unit has no photocopier.
There are furthermore no secure safes or cupboards to lock up dockets.
“We have no backup dockets and if dockets are stolen we have to go back to the complainant and start again.”
Parliamentarian Elma Dienda suggested they should perhaps adopt some of the old practices, going back to a manual backup system where everything is handwritten twice.
Short-staffed as the unit is, it is not clear they could afford to start such a laborious and time-consuming practice.
The over-stretched unit not only serves Otjiwarongo, but also outlying towns and settlements such as Outjo, Otjikondu and Okaukuejo.
Snewe said the caseload of the unit had increased significantly in recent years.
Not necessarily because of an increase in gender-based violence, but due to increased reporting because of community sensitisation.
Snewe estimated a roughly 50/50 split in gender-based violence, with men sometimes also abused by their female partners.
Assistant Resident Representative of the UNDP, Lavinia Shikongo, however hotly disputed this figure saying that 90 percent of those abused were women and men were only a small minority.
Some parliamentarians present however argued they should not exclude emotional, psychological and financial abuse.
There was at least one male client with a blue shiner around his eye as the parliamentarians entered the WACPU offices.
When asked by MPs, he rather unconvincingly tried to deny his female partner beat him – the shame no doubt too great to bear.
Snewe said WACPU had already held a meeting with the police command about changing the name of the unit to something more gender-neutral.