Police Regional Commander for the Oshana Region, Commissioner Naftal Sakaria, launched a new operation, dubbed Omushangwena, at Oshakati.

The joint crime prevention operation will be conducted across the Oshana, Omusati, and Ohangwena regions over a six-day period on a rotational basis.

Commissioner Sakaria says the objective of the operation is to combat crime in the three regions, mostly targeting smuggling of contraband and motor-vehicle theft, with two hundred police officers deployed to the operation.

"We will spend two days in each region. After the parade, we will start with Oshana, and a contingent from Oshana will go and join Omusati, which is the next region, while the operation in Oshana still continues. After we are done with Omusati, then we will move to Ohangwena. For the criminals, they should already be shivering because we are coming. I am already thinking of Oshikango, Outapi, and Ondangwa. Be prepared because we are coming."

He warned police officers to refrain from using force on members of the public where it is not necessary.

"When you look at the objectives of the police, we have pillar number 2 that speaks about building partnerships so we are not the enemies of the public; we are here to assist the public, so we cannot build partnerships if we are assaulting people apparently with no reason."

Ohangwena Police Commander Commissioner Ottilie Kashuupulwa says a united force in the fight against crime will yield fruitful results.

"We have to work together as a team of colleagues and also to know each other because the police officers in Omusati don't know the police officers from Oshana, so this joint operation is also for us to know each other and to know the other tactics of who other people are operating."

Most crimes reported in her region are stock theft, contraband trade, vehicle theft, illegal fuel smuggling, domestic violence, and rape of minors.

She urged employers to protect children from those who would harm them, blaming foreign domestic workers in the area for being most often implicated in the rape of minors.

Commissioner Kashuupulwa advised employers to keep clean records of the names and identities of domestic workers they employ to enable police to arrest them even when they flee the country into Angola and elsewhere.