The series of recent incidences of crime and violence in our beloved country, Namibia, are a cause for concern. The aim of this short article, therefore, is to share some thoughts and to deepen general awareness that might lead to answers on the seemingly increasing level of crime and violence in the country.
On Saturday, 18th June 2016, the Namibian national football team, better known as the Brave Warriors, lost the COSAFA quarter final match against Botswana. The local daily newspaper, the New Era, reported that the bus carrying the Brave Warriors was pelted with stones by some unidentified people moments after the football match. According to the same report, the players were in deep shock and left fearing for their lives on Saturday evening after the bus in which they were travelling back to their hotel was attacked. This is unbecoming of us as no such conduct especially related to football matters has been noted before.
The Namibian newspaper of Tuesday, 21st June 2016 under the heading “Brutal killing shakes Otjomuise”, reported that a hammer, a knife and a concoction – thought to be poison – were found in the room of a 20-year old woman after she was allegedly brutally killed by her boyfriend in the Otjomuise suburb of Windhoek. The daily newspapers also carried reports on the molestation of school pupils by their teachers in Rehoboth and Khorixas. Again, on the same day, the police report revealed another shocking statistic of four minor girls that were raped over the same period of time. The murder/killing of a businessman in Walvis Bay by gunshot, the reports continued, is another ugly incident.
It appears that crime and violence have become the way of life as hardly a day passes without occurrences of this nature. If not murder/killing, rape, it is car theft, housebreaking or one other form of violent action. What is wrong with us as a society? What triggers the anger within us?
Crime and violence are of course not limited to Namibia only; they are worldwide phenomena; which makes me to believe that there exist several lessons to learn if we believe something can be done about them. Even developed countries are facing similar kinds of situations on a regular basis. How are they coping with crime and violence?
In our case, it should not matter whether these crimes are committed with a stone, hammer, a gun or poison; we need to dig deeper to comprehend the root cause of these crimes or violence. The underlying causes and anger within us need to be examined if we are to get to grips with these social evils. More often cases of violence are reported and widely observed by members of society without any logical interpretation leading to the cause of these crimes. Our society needs robust education on the causes of crime and violence. It is generally known that poverty, a low level of development, and the vast social and economic deficit within our communities, let alone social indifference are some of the main contributors towards crime and violence.
The State, as the benefactor of the safety and security of its citizens, through its various institutions seems to be hard at work to address some of the underlying factors contributing to crime and violence. Here, I acknowledge the concerted determination of government as expressed in its most recent action plan, the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) in relation to the pillars of economic advancement and social progression.
However, for the interim, I believe as society we need to do more before the crime situation in the country gets worse. What more can be done? The thought of trained community volunteers who could assist community members and relatives to be vigilant, report, as well as seek help on observation of suspicious violent behaviour timeously, could lead to a decrease in the prevalence of crime and violent behaviour.
We ought to possibly also take a leaf from Uganda’s “zero-grazing” policy of the mid-eighties with the HIV & AIDS pandemic in that country which led to the decrease of the pandemic to at least acceptable levels. Namibia should consider declaring that we have these evils in our society and should, if not existing already, suggest ways of addressing them like HIV & AIDS is being addressed. In this regard, Namibia could continue to build on where the former President left off when he declared a national prayer day against crime and violence.
Also, the training of social workers ought to be intensified, so that each village could benefit from the services of a social worker to deal with concerns that could shed light on the motives behind crime and violence.
•Sebedeus !Naruseb is employed by the International University of Management (IUM). The views expressed in this article are entirely his. E-mail: snaruseb@gmail.com