OSHAKATI – Oshana police said the region’s holding cells are bursting at the seams. This situation has now been blamed on the slow pace of investigations.
According to Oshana deputy commissioner Nico Steenkamp, conditions in police holding cells worsened due to the growing number of inmates.
Steenkamp, magistrates with some prosecutors from Oshana met on Monday to discuss the challenges and decide on how to deal with the situation.
“Also, some suspects are on bail but do not have money to pay, so they are kept in there,” he added.
Oshana police spokesperson Thomas Aiyambo confirmed that police holding cells are overcrowded.
He noted that Oshakati and Ondangwa cells’ capacity is 130 but currently accommodating 237 and 258 respectively while Ongwediva cells’ capacity is 23 and currently detained 95 suspects.
“Meaning the three holding cells are overcrowded with 307, since it has 590 instead of 283 suspects,” he explained.
A man who was released from custody recently spoke on condition of anonymity saying investigators are the cause of overcrowding of police cells.
He said investigators are often postponing cases multiple times for further investigations.
“Investigators keep suspects detained for minor cases, for invalid reasons, and most of them ask suspects for a bribe,” he stressed.
He further said if there are no valid reasons to believe that the person will abscond, then the suspect should not be detained but rather be warned and appear in court on a given date.
He further said many unnecessary detentions and bail hearings can be easily avoided, as not everyone in jail is guilty.
“My personal experience is that this process is frustrated by the unnecessary postponement of investigation by officers,” he said.
Last month, Rundu Police Station commander Hermine Muranda also said the station is overcrowded with the cells’ capacity at 100, there were about 270 inmates, including seven women.
Muranda informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, which were on a tour of the station, of the high number of inmates and lack of food.
– vkaapanda@nepc.com.na