The Namibian Police Force will conduct weekly cell searches at police holding cells across the country, to curb the smuggling of contraband into the cells, which has been on the increase.

This was announced by Inspector General of the Namibian Police Force (NamPol), Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo, at the 32nd anniversary of NamPol here Tuesday.

Shikongo said the introduction of the weekly search is necessitated by the increase of contraband found within the holding cells, hence the need for security mechanisms to be put in place to detect the smuggling of contraband in the police holding cells.

“We are encountering contraband ending up in our cells, therefore, police holding cells search should be conducted on a weekly basis,” said Shikongo.

He also stated that he will start to lead by example and put his words into action as failure to act on such actions from the police will lead to the order of command being held accountable.

Shikongo further warned that police officers who are not loyal and allow some of the contrabands to end up in cells will be dealt with.

“Action should be taken so that these dishonest police officers can be fired,” he stressed.

Police officers should strive to do the right thing, even if no one is watching them, Shikongo said while highlighting that over N.dollars 41 million worth of drugs were seized during the 2021/22 financial year in Namibia.

Source: Namibia Press News Agency