WINDHOEK – Inspector-General of the Namibian Police Force Sebastian Ndeitunga says the police are still in need of financial resources to tackle various challenges such as lack of accommodation, sufficient office space and shortage of modern equipment.
Ndeitunga said the police also need finances for new motor vehicles, personnel and forensic experts or scientists to handle cases emanating from the wave of crime hitting the country.
He made these remarks when speaking at the inauguration of the new police national headquarters in Windhoek on Friday. The building is situated in Ausspannplatz behind the old police headquarters.
“We are constructing a state-of-the-art forensic science laboratory that will require capable, properly trained human capital for it to respond fully to the demand of our country’s criminal justice system,” said the police chief.
He added that the police also need to procure horses for their cavalry units, which among other things are very essential in the maintenance of public order and crime prevention. They also need to purchase breeding dogs to equip their canine units properly because dogs are crucial in detecting concealed goods or contraband, as well as suspects.
“Moreover, there is an urgent need to acquire and expand the deployment of information communication technologies, such as CCTVs, to implement safer city concepts and to expedite our business process reengineering,” he noted, adding that this will boost the morale of the police and contribute to increased productivity in service delivery.
Ndeitunga said the old police national headquarters has limited office space, which is inadequate to accommodate all the personnel deployed at the national level of the organisational structure.
He said that as a result some establishments of the police national headquarters have been operating from various rented buildings scattered around Windhoek, which cost the government millions of dollars in rental fees.
“Hence, the force embarked on a project to construct a new state-of-the art police national headquarters with enough office space,” said Ndeitunga.
President Hage Geingob, who officially inaugurated the new police headquarters, said the police should ensure that there is appropriate training of police officers to deal with the array of crimes, and mostly gender-based violence (GBV) and other contact crimes impacting the community.
Geingob said all members of the force at police stations countrywide should be able to immediately attend to reports of GBV cases in their respective areas of jurisdiction, instead of solely relying on the unit specialised in the subject.
The president said together with the spate of GBV incidences, another situation causing national distress is the unabated carnage on the country’s roads.
“The rate of motor vehicle accidents and the gruesome results are unacceptable. Something has to be done. I call on the Namibian police, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, such as the National Road Safety Council and other domestic and external institutions of knowledge, to research and identify innovative methods and appropriate technologies that can be used for the purpose of reducing incidents of death and carnage on our national roads.”