Kavango West NamPol praises traditional authorities

NKURENKURU, 16 AUG  – The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) in the Kavango West Region has praised traditional authorities in the region for their contribution to the combating of crime and resolving issues among rural communities.
Speaking to Nampa on Monday, NamPol’s Acting Regional Commander and Deputy Commissioner in the Kavango West Region, Andrew Shilelo explained that the contribution by the traditional leaders, particularly the solid traditional values imposed to members of the communities, have resulted into a good relationship between community members and law enforcement.
“The people here have a solid tradition in a way they handle cases as they have their own traditional courts where they try to come together and solve the problems,” he said.
He added that most often people have preferences in reporting their cases such as those involving stock theft to the traditional authority because punishments at the traditional authority is stiff that a person ends up paying two cattle’s for one stolen animal.
People residing in this part of the country, he continued, are also more concerned about recovering their properties rather than just reporting cases to the police where a person is just taken to jail, which he described as more of a losing game.
Shilelo further added that the only problem faced by the police in the region regarding policing is accessibility.
If the police had enough vehicles to access communities living in the inland villages that have sandy roads, it would have better relationships with surrounding communities in the region, which would further decrease crime activities in these communities, he added.
On the issue of land, the Deputy Commissioner said land disputes are mostly handled by the traditional authorities with the assistance of the Ministry of Land Reform.
However, Shilelo said the role of NamPol in issues regarding land is merely to advise and mediate so that peace prevails in the region.
NAMPA