WINDHOEK – Training new police recruits is not a cheap exercise, lamented the Inspector General of the Namibian Police Sebastian Ndeitunga.
Speaking exclusively to New Era on Friday, Ndeitunga said it costs the Namibian police N$154 694 to train one member for six months.
This caters for needs such as salary, laundry, meals, training, a graduation uniform, weapons and bedding, amongst others.
“It is very expensive to train a police officer, but it is something we have to do to keep on growing our force. As you know, some members leave the force when they get employment elsewhere, others go into retirement and then of course there are those who pass away, so we need to fill all these gaps,” said Ndeitunga.
Ndeitunga said the poaching of Nampol members also continues to hamper the expansion of the force.
“As much as we want to clear the backlog, we continue to lose our members. We mostly lose our seasoned members who are well experienced,” he said.
“There was a time we trained traffic officers, however, right after graduating the municipalities took them in. We know they will go serve the public but we also need these members,” said the police chief.
“We can always assist municipalities to train their people if they request, but of course it will not be a free lunch,” he stated
There are currently 2 800 new recruits attending the six-month basic police training course, which translates into a total cost of just over N$433 million.
Meanwhile, Ndeitunga officiated at a police graduation ceremony held in Windhoek on Friday where 29 Special Reserve Force members graduated from a six-week Special Reserve Force Basic Training that took place at Khan Mine in the Erongo Region.
The training course cost Nampol about N$600 000.
About 43 members reported for the training but only 29 managed to successfully complete it.
The Special Reserve Force Division is responsible for handling high-risk operations in the country such as public order, hostage situations, terrorism, escort of minerals such as diamonds and gold, as well as dangerous suspects amongst others.