Two Special Field Force officers were deployed by the police in Kavango West to protect Sirkka Ausiku’s private residence.
According to a Kavango West police regional command’s office letter, officers responsible patrolling Namibian borders were sent on the request of governor on 10/01/2023.
“Governer Ausiku requested that police officers be posted at her residence in a secluded area of the new extension three at Nkurenkuru, due to the housebreaking incident that took place at her residence,” read the letter.
Ausiku could not be reached for comment yesterday because her phone was out all day.
To justify their decision, the police cited their operational manual chart.
“In the absence of members from the Very Important Persons (VIP) directorate in the region, your office is hereby directed to deploy security personnel at the premises of the governor during night shift only (22h00 to 06h00) as per shift duty roster.”
Modestus Kupembona, a Nkurenkuru-based community activist, accused Ausiku in an abuse of power when she requested that police officers guard her private residence.
Kupembona told The Namibian yesterday that a housebreaking incident at governor’s home cannot be viewed negatively.
Kupembona’s Freedom March Movement has stated that the governor doesn’t meet the requirements for her private residence to be guarded by officers.
“A common criminal case of house breaking at her residence cannot be grounds of state protection and there is no prima facie evidence of threats to her life,” movement spokesperson David Nekaro said.
Nekaro stated that because the governor is employed, she has the ability to pay her own costs for protection services at home.
“A responsible and caring governor could have embarked on a programme of action in collaboration with the Namibian Police to combat criminality in our society [rather] than to be selfish and seek state protection, isolating herself from the community,” Nekaro said.
He asked the police for an immediate retraction of their decision to send officers to Governor’s House.
Yesterday’s Special Field Force head, commissioner Willem Steenkamp referred The Namibian deputy inspector general of operations major general Elias Mutota to comment.
Yesterday, Mutota confirmed to The Namibian that officers were sent to the governor’s residence last week after she informed the inspector general about a threat to her safety following the burglary.
Mutota stated that the items stolen were significant, but he couldn’t cite their value.
The Namibian tried to determine the value of the stolen items by Abner Agas, regional crime investigations head. He said he was not in the area at the time.
He also said that he didn’t know if any of the suspects had been arrested yet.
“This is a temporary arrangement and she is not the first one to be accorded security personnel. We are conducting a security threat assessment. [will] advise what should be done,” Mutota said.
Mutota stated that Ausiku should have hired a security company to protect her home. She is a government employee, and she was not the one who deployed the police to her home but the inspector general for the Namibian Police.
Source: namibian
