Ombudsman: Give holding cells to NCS
Police holding cells across the country, and in particular in the north, are subject to serious systemic shortcomings. Persistent overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, poor infrastructure, deficient healthcare services, food and nutrition challenges, prolonged detention, failures in the protection of children and allegations of assault and ill-treatment are among the findings of the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman, Basilius Dyakugha, conducted monitoring visits to police holding cells in nine northern regions between 11 and 23 May 2026. The visits were to determine detention conditions and compliance to national and international human rights standards.
Access to healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, safety, respect for dignity and humane treatment were among the focus areas for the visits.
On Monday (15 June 2026), the resulting report was handed over to Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare. According to the prime minister’s office, Ngurare describing the report as an important tool to improve detention conditions and strengthen the protection of human rights. According to his office, Ngurare said that the findings would help guide targeted interventions to improve conditions in police holding facilities and enhance service delivery.
“The report provides us with an opportunity to address challenges and strengthen our institutions. We have to act quickly on its recommendations because the welfare, dignity and rights of all people must be protected,” said Ngurare.
The report states that the findings are not isolated incidents, “but reflect broader structural and operational weaknesses affeting the detention system.” In general police holding cells in Namibia are, “increasingly being required to perform functions for which they are neither designed nor adequately resourced,” the report found.
“The prolonged detention of trail-awaiting inmates, persons with mental health conditions, children and immigration detainees places significant pressure on police resources and contributes directly to many of the deficiencies identified,” the report reads.
Already six months ago the Namibian Police (Nampol) acknowledged that many, if not all, police holding cells across the country are chronically overcrowded. That admission followed data for January and February 2025, presented to parliamentarians and showing that the Gobabis police cells held 224 suspects, despite having a capacity of just 60.
The situation in Katima Mulilo was even more severe, with 262 suspects crammed into cells designed for 60. Overall, nearly 3 000 suspects, including foreign nationals, were in police detention during this period, far exceeding the combined capacity of 1 358 in the towns then reviewed.
Now the Ombudsman has recommended that management and operation of police holding cells be handed over to the Namibia Correctional Service (NCS). Dyakugha recommends that the transfer be phased in, starting with the large number of trial-awaiting inmates. He suggests a pilot handover of the Oshakati, Ondangwa and Omuthiya police holding cells, based on the severity, scale and frequency of human rights abuses that were documented during the visits.
Furthermorer he suggests that Nampol, the office of the prosecutor-general, the judiciary and the magistracy develop a coordinated strategy to reduce overcrowding related to pre-trial detention. The ombudsman wants the ministry of health and social services to urgently strengthen healthcare services by prioritising medical assessment and nutritional support for inmates, follow-up monitoring, storage and tracking of inmate medication, enhanced pest control, deployment of nurses and mental health awareness training for police officers, amongs others.
“All children currently detained in police holding cells should be transferred without delay,” the report reads, stressing that, “Children must never be detained together with adults.”
In November police spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi, acknowledged that juveniles are sometimes held with adults.
