New Mondesa Police Station Commander introduced to community

The Namibian Police (NamPol) organised a church parade on Sunday (4 June) to introduce the new station commander of the Mondesa Police Station to the community of Swakopmund: Warrant Officer Hilma Kandali Uugwanga.
Many serious crimes take place in the Swakopmund suburb Mondesa, most notable are assault-related offences, murders at month’s end fuelled by alcohol as well as a rising trend in housebreaking cases. This was some of the concerns brought forward by the community and was acknowledged as focus areas for crime prevention when the new station commander was introduced.
During the meeting Nampol also gave information of the status of crime in Mondesa and preventative measures to reduce identified crime. According to the Head of Community Police for Erongo region, Warrant Officer Iileni Shapumba, the types of crimes committed in Mondesa remain a huge challenge. “It is because of this that the station commander has introduced search operations at night. Up to date we have confiscated 30 knives, including a panga, between 30 May and 2 June (picture below),” Shapumba said. He urged the community not to walk alone at night and rather stay at home and called on the community to establish neighbourhood watches.
“Be careful of scams that are going around, be careful of things that are too good to be true and never fall victim to scams. Another disturbing issue is social disorder. People are posting scenes of accidents and distributing them on social media. When accidents occur and the police are there, no one is allowed to take videos and photos because it is not good for the family members to learn about the death of their relatives via social media,” he explained.
Shapumba added there is also a trend of young people taking “very bad and disturbing videos of themselves, nude photos or very bad videos and post them on social media”. “This needs to stop,” he warned.
While addressing the community Shapumba acknowledged addressing churches and congregations does not mean they are speaking to those committing the crimes. He therefore urged community members to treat these sessions as information platforms and for the community to convey this information to the masses.
According to Shapumba the Mondesa Police Station wishes to establish a Pastor’s Forum, because of the common interests. “Both Pastors and the police preach and tell people not to kill and so forth, therefore we would like to work hand in hand with the pastors in order to fight crime,” he said.
Warrant Officer Uugwanga was the previous station commander at Uis, where she served since 2014. Before that she was on duty in Walvis Bay and Henties Bay. Uugwanga resumed her duty as station commander at Mondesa Police Station on 18 April this year. She invited the public to approach her office and bring up new ideas on how to combat crime.
“The police cannot be successful alone without the input of the community,” she said. Uugwanga added: “we must remember that the people committing the crimes are our own children.”
Uugwanga also addressed the burning issue of gender-based violence saying she will take this evil head-on. “The person who is supposed to protect you is the same person harming you. I strongly urge men, brothers and fathers who are in abusive relationships, to approach me personally at my office so we can solve the problem together,” she said. Not only women are in abusive relationships and most men are too shy to report abuse to the police.
Uugwanga continued by stating the police usually only discover the patterns of an abusive relationship after a murder and/or suicide. “By then it is too late. The police are not only there to lock people up but to also educate and help people,” she said.
She urges the community to save the Mondesa Police Station emergency number (081 640 7606) and office number (064 415 007). The churches where the meetings were held are the Anglican Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church.