Hosea Shishiveni Neumbo

Many are speculating that the next president of Namibia will be a female. 

I am not against females occupying big positions in society, neither am I against 50/50 gender equality. Due to what women have faced in the early 16th up until the late 19th century, I would suggest that the scale should be 60/40 in favour of females to compensate for the pain and loss they previously suffered. 

I will be happy seeing a female president in the State House of Namibia, but that doesn’t qualify females to occupy the seat by default. The deciding factors should strictly be competency and vision, not gender. Let a visionary leader who is qualified and competent enough become the president of Namibia.

Will the same apply to the position of the inspector general of the Namibian Police? Based on my personal views, I think this will be totally different. Outgoing lieutenant general Sebastian Ndeitunga took over the reigns from Lucas Hangula following his appointment by President Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005. He served to the best of his abilities. Since independence up to date, Namibia has been experiencing organised crime, and dangerous and petty crimes, of which many such as economic scandals involving prominent figures occurred during the outgoing police chief’s tenure. Should we label his leadership a failure? 

When stats are made available, the nation will be able to decode the best and worst-ever to have served as inspector general of the Namibian Police from the dawn of independent Namibia up to date. Personal views are disqualified, since one can be biased due to favouritism or tribalism.

Feminists are demanding for a rotation of power. Gender activists are demanding for a female inspector general. In the current state Namibia finds herself in, do you really think that a position like this one fits a female? A position like this one cannot be handled by a woman. A position of this nature is less likely to suit sensitive persons who are emotionally fragile. Nampol’s top job needs a firm person who can make decisions on his own without the interference of politicians and business people. It is hard to get a female candidate who can act independently without any sort of fear. Women are naturally merciful, and end up taking decisions that are motherly. 

Can a woman run a position of inspector general of the Namibian Police independently? Women cannot take the lead, and whoever is backing women to fill this position is advocating for the perpetuation of crimes and illicit trading that we are tirelessly working to combat. 

On the other hand, we can have a female president, whose safety will be in good hands once we have a man serving in the position. Having a female president and a female chief of police is like someone summoning anarchy into society. We cannot allow chaos to erupt in our nation. We are a peaceful nation. Wherever there is commotion, service delivery is hampered.

Debate is rife on social media platforms, where people of different backgrounds opine on who should take over the throne from Ndeitunga. The frontrunners in the race are deputy inspector general for administration major general Anne-Marie Nainda and deputy inspector general responsible for operations, major general Joseph Shikongo. 

Both are well-experienced and equipped with all the necessary skills and information since they all served locally, continentally and internationally on different missions. Major general Nainda worked for Interpol, and she also served as Oshikoto commander before being promoted to her current rank in 2017. Major general Shikongo has international experience after working on missions of peacekeeping in Sudan, DRC and at the headquarters of the UN in New York.  Additionally, Shikongo carved a reputation for himself of being a no-nonsense police officer, being tough on criminals and with tactical expertise to fight crime.  

Nampol’s top job requires a man with characteristics similar to that of Shikongo, who many described as a natural-born leader. Becoming a law-enforcement leader is a continuous learning curve that requires individuals to possess key character traits. These traits are clear leadership, inspiration, accountability, passion and humility. The transformational leadership we have seen from Shikongo while serving as Khomas commissioner shows that he is indeed capable to lead Nampol. 

For maintaining peace and ensuring that people are safe in the Security Council together with the president, should consider filling the position with a man. The same should apply if they are going to headhunt externally. The commission should also consider changing the terms of employment. A person cannot just be sitting as an inspector general waiting for retirement, even when they are not performing. 

I suggest that the inspector general should be hired on a five-year contract and if they are failing to meet their performance targets, they should be removed to pave way for improvement. 

The commission should not just appoint someone from the grave. That position needs to be filled with someone who has a background of policing, with adequate skills. Whoever is going to lead should make sure that female police officers are promoted and should not wait for them to ask for promotion, as we have seen it happening.

Namibia needs someone who will serve the best interests of the nation, with the safety of the nation being the primary priority. 

Excellent policing for a safe Namibia is the core vision of Nampol, but Nampol has failed many in this country due to its poor service delivery and lack of facilities and vehicles. If we had serious leadership, Nampol needs to work closely with people on the ground to defend their communities so that law-enforcement becomes proactive instead of being reactive. Establishments such as the Men and Women’s Network was indeed assisting in curbing crime. What happened to it? Nampol uses a reactive approach, for instance if a woman approaches the police saying her boyfriend or husband wants to kill her, the police will wait for her to be killed for them to make an arrest. 

The same happened to the late Alina Kahehongo, who was killed at Louis Botha in Windhoek West on 25 July 2018. The deceased allegedly visited the police station more than three times, but still no action was taken. 

In a society where our journalists are not safe, I personally recommend that the president appoints a male to fill the position to make sure that journalist are protected. Because without them, we will not know what is happening in Namibia.  The safety of journalists should be made a priority. Journalism is not a crime, but an important cornerstone of freedom. Women can fill up big positions in the corporate world. 

I applaud President Hage Geingob for addressing gender inequality in Namibia and ensuring that women are fairly represented in his Cabinet.

Gender equality is indeed visible in Namibia, and a single position like this one will not make the feminists feel betrayed or not considered because the President has tried by all means to break gender stereotypes in an independent Namibia. 

Let a man watch over the kraal because if you let a woman do so, she will still need to go and inform the father when predators visit the kraal.