Namibia: Police Warned to Stop Using Lack of Vehicles As Excuse for Slow Response

18 December 2025

Police inspector general Joseph Shikongo says officers should stop telling the public they have no vehicles to attend to incidents of gender-based violence (GBV) - especially over the festive season.

The police have dispatched 112 police vehicles to all 14 regions to curb the issue, he says.

Eight vehicles have been dispatched to each region.

This comes after the police have been criticised for their slow response to GBV incidents.

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Speaking to Desert FM on Wednesday, Shikongo said eight vehicles have been deployed to every region to strengthen their capacity to respond to the public's calls.

"We can only save lives when we react timely when we are called upon.

"So, even before Christmas we dispatched vehicles," he said.

Shikongo said the distance between police stations in remote areas is a challenge when responding to multiple incidents.

The inspector general condemned police officers telling members of the public that there are no vehicles.

He encouraged officers to gather information and contact the regional commander and the nearest police station when their stations are not able to respond to a call from the public.

"But just to tell a person blindly we don't have a car is not sustainable.

"It's not something we condone, it's something that we condemn," he said.

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