WINDHOEK – A Namibian Police (Nampol) officer explained a delay in police investigations in a murder case, citing work overload with 1000 cases assigned to her.
Ester Kaweua, a detective warrant officer within the ranks of Nampol, made a revelation in Katutura Magistrate’s Court yesterday that she has more than 1000 cases assigned to her and thus it hinders her to complete investigations on time.
Kaweua is investigating the case of Moses Tomas who is accused of slitting his ex-girlfriend’s throat and drinking acid in an attempt to commit suicide in March 2018. The case was brought forward for the prosecutor general’s decision but such a decision was not ready as investigations were incomplete in the matter.
“You have to understand; I am human too. In a month I can deal with more than 50 cases and I have a 1000 more that I need to investigate. It is a lot of work for one person,” explained Kaweua upon enquiry by the state why she has not completed investigations into a murder case assigned to her.
Nampol’s spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi confirmed that detectives have a huge work load.
“Yes, it is true that she has more than 1000 cases but there are other officers who have more cases than her that are assigned to them. We cannot let work to pile up. We have to work,” said Kanguatjivi.
In August 2018, Inspector General of the Namibian Police Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga revealed statistics that the police were dealing with 176,709 pending dockets or investigations countrywide with Khomas Region alone contributing 56 percent or 98,264 to the total number of outstanding cases. The police could not reveal how many investigators are within the ranks of Nampol.