Lubango - The Angolan National Police Chief, Chief Commissioner Paulo de Almeida, advocated today in Lubango City, southern Huíla Province, the need to reinforce the permanent dialogue with Namibia, to safeguard the integrity of the common border.
The Police chief, who was speaking at the opening of the 21st Bilateral Meeting between the Ministries of Interior of Angola and Internal Affairs, Migration, Protection and Security of the Republic of Namibia, stressed that the solution to the problems must be jointly found and the diplomatic channels of both countries also remain available.
He stated that some incidents that have been recorded along the border will be addressed “in depth”, expressing concern about the disrespect of immigration rules by citizens of both countries.
"We repudiate any and all types of cross-border crime and according to our registration there has been frequent theft of cattle, vehicles, electric cables and indiscriminate slaughter of flora, as well as the smuggling of fuel, precious stones and coins," he said.
In this regard, he explained, the actions to combat these evils must be more incisive to the point of discouraging such practices, as there is a need to rehabilitate and restore the border marks, in order to open and define the opening hours of the border posts.
He pointed out, the intention to institutionalize the one-stop post between the border post of Santa Clara, Oshicango, maintaining its operation for 24 hours a day, but more attention needs to be paid to penitentiary issues.
On his turn, the Inspector General of the police in Namibia, Lieutenant General Sebastian Nampol, said that Angola can count on the support of his country in order to improve the social well-being of its people, expressing the conviction that the existing relations between the two states will be made stronger.
He stressed that although they continue to face generic crimes, including breach of the Covid-19 regulation, the security situation in Namibia is under control, yet police forces and all their partners are committed to making efforts to contain the crimes.
He said that the prisoners transfer agreements, signed in April 2018 in Namibia, will soon be materialized.
Illegal immigration, smuggling of goods and theft of cattle are on the agenda at the meeting, which ends on Friday.
