WINDHOEK – Police chief, Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga has accused police graduates who abandon the force to join other security institutions soon after graduating of lacking loyalty.
He urged them to stay in the employ of the national police, despite the perceived poor salaries in the force.
Ndeitunga’s remarks come at a time when NamPol is preparing to graduate close to 2 000 police trainees, who recently completed their training.
It costs NamPol N$154 694 to train one police recruit in the six months of basic police training course.
“Those who leave the force soon after graduating are not loyal. Of course, we will never match the salaries of City Police and other agencies, but we are working hard to improve conditions in the force and to adjust the salaries of our members, especially the constables,” said Ndeitunga.
Police constables are the lowest rank in the force, and the 8 446 officers in that rank each earn N$105 285 per annum, which translates to N$8 773.75 per month per officer.
Ndeitunga himself earns a cool N$871 192 per year, which is about N$73 000 per month.
Currently, only 14 264 of the 22 161 positions in NamPol are filled, most of the vacant posts are in the constable rank where there are 5 200 openings.
“We are busy consulting with the Public Service Commission to adjust the salaries of our members. We want to get sufficient resources to improve the conditions in the force as well as to promote officers,” he said.
Ndeitunga yesterday also indicated that low salaries in the police force cannot be used to justify corruption in the force.
“Government is our only source of funding, but we must remember that it has other national responsibilities to cater for as well and therefore we cannot be selfish to say that government should only pay attention to NamPol,” said the inspector general.
Ndeitunga also urged the City Police to uphold the principled agreement between NamPol and City Police of not poaching each other’s members.
It is not a secret that most young Namibians join the police force as a last resort when it comes to seeking employment, this has cast doubts on the commitment and loyalty of those entrusted to ensure and promote safety in the country.
Some disgruntled members recently told New Era that the way promotions are carried out in the force disadvantages those who are not within the close parameters of the top leadership. NamPol has denied this allegation.
Other members continue to serve as constables for more than a decade because of a lack of positions in the upper structures. The police’s structure has been accused of stifling growth in the force due to the bottleneck in the top structures.
Ndeitunga urged police officers to remain patient when it comes to promotions because “not everyone can be promoted”.
He said he is aware of the fact that most police officials within the lower ranks cannot afford to pay rent, especially in Windhoek, because their salaries are low, this makes survival difficult for them.
He said the poaching trend will not stop anytime soon because of the better remuneration packages offered by City Police.
If City Police needs any official employed by NamPol, Ndeitunga urged the Windhoek police to sit with NamPol on the negotiation table so that a deal can be reached amicably.
“It is really concerning that graduates come from the training and the City Police is already waiting for some of them with open arms,” he said.