Maria David

ONDANGWA – Amid calls for police to attend incident reports timeously, Oshana regional commander, Commissioner Naftal Lungameni Sakaria has made his designated vehicle available for use when there are no other vehicles.

Sakaria revealed this in an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, saying officers must be honest with the public if there are no vehicles available, and tell them the true situation on the ground, rather than having people believing that the police are not doing their work.

“If there are no vehicles, consult me. If I am not doing anything or attending meetings, then my vehicle can be used to attend to a report,” Sakaria said.

He noted that the region only has about eight vehicles that are functional, with most of them grounded due to minor faults.

Sakaria said the last time Oshana police received new vehicles was in 2015. 

The mileage on the clock of those vehicles is about 500 000 kms per vehicle now, he added.

“This means the vehicle is so old that even if one tries to fix it today, in a week it will break down, as police vehicles sometimes runs 24 hours a day,” he stated.

He added that police need mobility if they are to effectively combat crime in the region, and this requires the assistance of local businesspeople and stakeholders to play their part in helping the force to combat crime.

Sakaria applauded Oniipa businessman Johannes Sakaria of JSN Automotive Group, who on Wednesday handed over a vehicle at Ondangwa police station that he had repaired at his own cost as part of assisting NamPol to fight crime.

Johannes said repairs on the vehicle cost him about N$17 000, which is an investment he is glad to have made.

“There is no way members of the police can be seen driving vehicles which are in a bad state when something can be done to improve the situation,” he said.

- Nampa