Two articles that appeared in New Era yesterday paint a troubling picture of our correctional system -- one that cannot be solved by the police and judiciary alone.
Severe staff shortages and overcrowding at the Namibia Correctional Service facilities, particularly in Windhoek, were laid bare. In a separate report, safety and security minister Lucia Iipumbu confirmed 52 criminal cases committed inside police holding cells.
Together, these stories force us to confront an uncomfortable truth: our prisons and holding cells are no longer merely institutions of punishment and rehabilitation, in some cases, they are incubators of further criminality.
Prison is meant to protect society by isolating dangerous offenders. It is meant to rehabilitate. But when facilities are overcrowded, understaffed and riddled with internal crime, they risk becoming training grounds where minor offenders graduate into hardcore criminals. This is where murderers and drug dealers can be initiated, shaped and refined.
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Imagine a young, unemployed man, perhaps influenced by peers -- stealing a bottle of "punyapunya" from a supermarket. A foolish, petty crime. That young person is arrested and sent to a holding cell already plagued by extortion, rape, assault and smuggling of contraband. Weeks or months later, he leaves not rehabilitated, but exposed to criminal networks, survival tactics and a culture of violence.
If "lucky", he is caught committing another offence
inside and serves additional time. If not, he is released after a short stint and returns to society carrying new criminal skills and connections -- ready to breed more criminal activities and counterparts.
What began as a minor theft becomes a doorway into something far darker, a node in a growing web of organised criminality.
This is not speculation. When 52 crimes are confirmed within holding cells in a single reporting period, it signals systemic strain. When facilities designed for far fewer inmates operate above capacity, rehabilitation becomes secondary to containment.
We must ask ourselves: are we solving crime, or manufacturing it?
Alternative Sentencing
For petty crimes, especially first-time offenders, imprisonment should not be the default response. Hence, fines, suspended sentences, community service orders, compulsory counselling and structured behavioural programmes should be greatly considered. These are not signs of weakness, but they are instruments of nation-building.
Community service allows offenders to repay society constructively. It keeps them connected to their families and communities. It reduces the burden on overcrowded facilities. Most importantly, it prevents unnecessary exposure to hardened criminals. Behavioural correctional programmes including disciplinary "boot camps", could also play a transformative role. Namibia already has one or two private institutions offering structured disciplinary and behavioural development programmes for young people. Though privately run, they demonstrate that structured mentorship, discipline and accountability can redirect vulnerable youth before they sink deeper into criminality.
Government does not need to reinvent the wheel. It can support, regulate or adapt these models into structured national programmes aimed specifically at first-time and low-risk offenders. Prevention is far less expensive, and far more humane than long-term incarceration.
A whole-of-government response
Directly responsible authorities - ministry of safety and security and the justice system cannot do it alone. Crime prevention and rehabilitation are societal responsibilities requiring coordinated institutional intervention.
The ministry education must strengthen early behavioural interventions in schools. Life skills education, civic responsibility programmes and early identification of at-risk learners can prevent minor delinquency from escalating. Schools must not only teach mathematics and science; they must cultivate discipline, ethics and conflict resolution skills.
The directorates of gender equality, social welfare must intensify family support systems. Many petty crimes are symptoms of deeper socio-economic distress - broken homes, unemployment, substance abuse and neglect. Social workers should be empowered to intervene before a young person enters the criminal justice system.
This should be expanded to youth employment and apprenticeship programmes as called upon by the Head of State. Idle hands remain fertile ground for crime. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), entrepreneurship incubation and agricultural cooperatives can provide structured alternatives to street survival.
Faith-based organisations, traditional authorities and civil society groups also have a role. Moral guidance, mentorship and community accountability structures once formed the backbone of social discipline. These institutions must reclaim that space.
Even the private sector can contribute by supporting rehabilitation initiatives, offering internship opportunities for reformed offenders and investing in community-based correction programmes.
Crime is not born in police stations; it germinates in communities. Therefore, the response must begin there too.
A Smarter Path Forward
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We must distinguish between those who pose a genuine danger to society and those who made a reckless mistake. Prison is necessary for violent and repeat offenders. But for first-time petty offenders, alternatives are not just compassionate -- they are strategic.
The cost of ignoring this reality is too high. Every petty thief turned hardened criminal is a policy failure. Some crimes are cries for help or acts of immaturity that spiraled out of control. Yet as cells grow overcrowded, these offenders stand a greater chance of meeting mentors in crime rather than mentors in reform.
Every crime committed inside a holding facility is a red flag.
Namibia has an opportunity to act boldly: strengthen correctional institutions while simultaneously expanding alternative sentencing for minor offences. Support community service. Institutionalise behavioural rehabilitation camps. Invest in prevention. Mobilise education, social services, labour, civil society and the private sector.
Because if we continue to send minor offenders into broken systems, we should not be surprised when they return far worse than when they entered.
Again, if holding cells themselves become sites of extortion and abuse, public trust erodes. When detainees' rights and dignity are violated under state protection, confidence in law enforcement weakens.
Therefore, prisons must correct. They must not corrupt.
