Placido Hilukilwa
THREE years ago, the Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration and Safety and Security, Albert Kawana, undertook an inspection along the Namibia/Angola border and noticed the precarious working and living conditions at the Elundu police post in the Omundaungilo constituency of the Ohangwena Region, where law enforcement officers lived in old tents and had limited facilities. He decided, there and then, to take action to improve their conditions.
On Thursday, Kawana returned to the historic Elundu, Ohenghono village, this time to inaugurate a new N$7.7 million police facility. The facility includes two prefabricated police barracks with ten rooms for male officers and six rooms for female officers, a charge office, a recreational area, a kitchen, a dining hall, a security fence, a borehole with a solar-powered pump, a water stand, a 10,000-litre water tank, and a septic tank. The total cost of the project was N$7,736,446.26.
Officiating at the event, Kawana pointed out the historical significance of the area and requested a moment of silence in honour of those who sacrificed their lives during the national liberation struggle.
Located a few kilometres south of the Namibia/Angola border, Elundu is notable as the location where a member of the South African Defence Force (SADF), sapper Johan van der Mescht, was captured by PLAN guerrillas during a surprise early morning attack on 19 February 1978.
For this reason, Kawana invited former members of PLAN to the ceremony, especially those who operated in the area, including former ministers Erkki Nghimtina and Charles Namoloh, former deputy defence minister Billy Mwaningange, General (Rtd) Martin Shalli, police Commissioner (Rtd) Elias Haulyondjaba, and many others.
“I thank you most sincerely for accepting our invitation. We are very happy that you are in our midst at this shrine of our revolution,” he said.
Kawana revealed what he did after noticing the poor conditions at the Elundu police post in August 2021. He returned to Windhoek, began planning, and managed to source prefabricated building materials from Swakop Uranium, 200 bags of cement from Cheetah Cement, and an equal number of bags from Ohorongo Cement and Pupkewitz Megabuild.
On 25 July 2023, Kawana returned to Elundu for a groundbreaking ceremony, and again in June this year to monitor the progress of the project.
“Today, 24 October 2024, I am extremely happy to be here for the fourth time to finally inaugurate the Elundu police post,” he said.
According to Kawana, the Namibian Government attaches immense importance to the safety and security sector, with the Cabinet positioning “safety and security” in fourth place on the list of national priorities in the Fifth National Development Plan (NDP5).
