Rauna Kalola

Psychological experts speaking at the Swakopmund Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (SAADA) initiative this week, said untreated trauma is at the centre of many social ills.

The Swakopmund municipal council hosted its first SAADA meeting to address issues and pledge support and resources towards fighting the abuse of substances at the town.

The event attracted members from the community, scholars and various business representatives. 

The Erongo region reported a total of 182 drug-related cases for the period of January – October 2022, of these 66 cases are from Swakopmund. A total of N$1.2 million worth of drugs have also
been confiscated. 

The police reported that most of the people arrested in drug related crimes are from the age group 19 to 25.

“Drug and alcohol abuse, drug trafficking and related criminal activities remain serious problems that affect the lives of most residents of Swakopmund,” said the mayor of Swakopmund, Dina Namubes during the event.

Namubes further added that there is a need for the leadership of Swakopmund to pursue and promote an approach that combines prevention, treatment, and law enforcement to break the cycle of substance abuse and related
crime.

Councillor Blasius Goraseb highlighted the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on the Namibian economy. 

“Use and misuse of alcohol, nicotine and illicit drugs and misuse of prescription drug cost the Namibian economy a significant amount of financial resources per year in increased healthcare costs, crime and lost productivity,” he said.

He said, Swakopmund lacks proper prevention programmes, treatment facilities and law enforcement efforts could be improved in order to actively fight alcohol and substance abuse.

Various stakeholders spoke on various topics related to prevention, treatment and law enforcement.

Inspector Ileni Shapumba, who is in charge of community affairs, called on all stakeholders to work with law enforcement personnel to effectively fight alcohol and drug abuse. 

“For us to succeed, is only when we work together,” he said. 

He encouraged public members to share information with law enforcers. 

“What we want is to arrest the kingpins and that we can all do when you give us information,” he added.

Community members present raised concerns about their safety should they report illegal drug dealings to the police. They also lamented that in some cases law enforcers are also implicated in illegal drug dealings.

The community members were encouraged to attend public meetings conducted by the police in order to be educated on procedures for reporting crimes to prevent exposing themselves to
criminals.