Keetmans cells ‘OK’

CHAIRMAN of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, Elia Kaiyamo, says the Police holding cells at Keetmanshoop are decent enough for trial-awaiting prisoners.

“We haven’t received a single complaint from the inmates,” Kaiyamo said after visiting the holding cells yesterday. The cells were not overcrowded, he said.There were 84 people in the cells, designed to accommodate 60 people, the time of Kaiyamo’s visit.Last month, the town’s Magistrate, Illeni Gebhardt, painted a different picture when she paid a surprise visit at the holding cells.There were 98 prisoners in the cells at that time.”The holding cells are not fit for human occupation since they are disgracefully overcrowded, squalid and unhygienic,” Magistrate Gebhardt told The Namibian at the time.Also at the time, Karas Regional Police Commander Josephat Abel blamed the Ministry of Justice for the chaotic situation, saying the overcrowding was caused by unnecessary delays in petty court cases.Yesterday, Kaiyamo admitted that more money was needed to improve Police buildings in the Karas Region.He singled out a lack of staff accommodation.Kaiyamo expressed satisfaction with conditions at the Ariamsvlei and Noordoewer border posts.However, he said office blocks at both border posts should be relocated closer to the border with South Africa.Kaiyamo was accompanied by Member of Parliament Hansina Christiaans and regional councillor Hilma Nikanor on his inspection tour of the Karas Region.The cells were not overcrowded, he said.There were 84 people in the cells, designed to accommodate 60 people, the time of Kaiyamo’s visit.Last month, the town’s Magistrate, Illeni Gebhardt, painted a different picture when she paid a surprise visit at the holding cells.There were 98 prisoners in the cells at that time.”The holding cells are not fit for human occupation since they are disgracefully overcrowded, squalid and unhygienic,” Magistrate Gebhardt told The Namibian at the time.Also at the time, Karas Regional Police Commander Josephat Abel blamed the Ministry of Justice for the chaotic situation, saying the overcrowding was caused by unnecessary delays in petty court cases.Yesterday, Kaiyamo admitted that more money was needed to improve Police buildings in the Karas Region.He singled out a lack of staff accommodation.Kaiyamo expressed satisfaction with conditions at the Ariamsvlei and Noordoewer border posts.However, he said office blocks at both border posts should be relocated closer to the border with South Africa.Kaiyamo was accompanied by Member of Parliament Hansina Christiaans and regional councillor Hilma Nikanor on his inspection tour of the Karas Region.