NATIONAL Democratic Party (NDP) president Martin Lukato said giving more money to Namibia’s security and defence services, and God’s intervention, will help bring the crime rate down to pre-independence levels.
He said this at the official launch of his party’s ‘Strategy on Combating Crime’ at Swakopmund on Friday. The strategy, which will be rolled out across the country, aims to bring all stakeholders together, regardless of political affiliation, and to consider the problems and solutions to Namibia’s high crime rate.
The politician from Zambezi region, who attended the Southern African Development Community electoral commission forum conference at Swakopmund last week, said he served as a police officer for 55 years – before and after Namibia’s independence – and that he has noticed the change for the worse.
“Before Namibia was granted its independence, the crime rate was minimal and limited compared to the crime rates of today after Namibia’s independence,” he said. “Now it is very high, and people are just killing each other committing crime day-in and day-out.”
The reasons for the pre-independence success, according to Lukato, was that security was “tight” along Namibia’s borders where both the police and military were in control, and that the former South West African Police and the South African Police were in control of crime prevention inside the country.
“You cannot prevent crime if you don’t have security at our borders. You will never prevent or combat crime if there are no vehicles or police stations. The police and the army are supposed to have a good budget for them to carry out their affairs,” he noted.
Lukato urged Cabinet to allocate a “more reasonable” budget to the police, military and home affairs, and ensure their various departments are fully equipped, and that the staff have “reasonable salaries”.
He recommended the establishment of more police stations and army bases along Namibia’s borders, and increased refugee camps to control the movement of illegal immigrants, as well as to identify the difference between political asylum seekers and criminals.
He also recommended that land be allocated to churches with state funds to fulfil their mandate of spreading the good news of the Gospel, peace and morality, and recommended a day of prayer to be held annually whereby the citizens seek the intervention of God to free Namibia from sin and crime.
The Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters leader in Erongo, Roger Dausab, who also attended the launch, said crime was affecting all Namibians and should be addressed by everyone, regardless of their political affiliation.
“Opposition political parties are always pointing fingers at the government and accusing it of corruption in the offices, but on the street there is crime that is affecting us all. Let’s not point fingers, but work together,” he urged.
