Otjozondjupa police accused of poor service
OTJIWARONGO – Residents of the Otjozondjupa Region on Tuesday complained to InspectorGeneral of the Namibian Police Force (NamPol), Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga of poor policing services on the part of the regional police.
Farmers, businesspeople and community members at a meeting with Ndeitunga at Otjiwarongo on Tuesday teamed up to accuse the police officers in the region of being lazy and slow to attend to crime reports.
“In September last year I was refused to open a case of my vehicle which went missing as the police officers at the Otjiwarongo Police Station told me that my concern was not a case to be registered with them,” said Wilma Gaweses, a resident of Otjiwarongo.
Another resident from the Grootfontein area, Piet Stoman said stock theft cases are usually not thoroughly investigated, adding that they also take long to be completed.
He further called on the police to protect tourists visiting the country.
Stoman said the police should be polite and helpful to these tourists, noting it gives a bad impression for a tourist to come that far with the purpose of seeing the beautiful Namibia and only ending up to be robbed of money and valuables.
The issue of increasing shebeens all over the residential areas in the region was also discussed, with the residents asking the police officers to tackle it without fear or favour by closing all illegal shebeens and those transgressing their liquor license provisions.
Neels van Tonder, a farmer in the Outjo district called on the police station commanders to be on top of what is happening in their policing zones in order to properly pursue criminals and make successful arrests.
On his part, Ndeitunga told the meeting that he also many a times face difficulties to access some of his senior police commanders in the region on their cellphones, therefore, he would not dispute the concerns raised by the community members.
He also encouraged the residents not to stop complaining about the poor policing services they receive as these police stations are public spaces. “You the public owns those stations and continue to talk about their poor services if not satisfied. Police officers are only put there to serve you,” he said. The NamPol chief warned members of the police force against indiscipline, laziness and inefficiency in reacting to crime reports.
He also warned about absenteeism and unprofessionalism at work, saying a few police officers are tarnishing the good image of NamPol and threatened not to promote any unruly police officer.
“Lawlessness is a sign of a weak police force. I encourage all of you to improve on your policing work in the region as crimes reported to my office place your region in the fourth place in the country,” he said. Ndeitunga said national crime reports put Khomas Region in the first place, followed by Oshana, Erongo, Otjozondjupa and Kavango East.