The Namibian Police have conferred 51 officers, 30 men, and 21 women, from all 14 regions with new ranks.

However, due to distance only 23 could attend the official event in Windhoek, with the rest being conferred by their respective regional commanders.   

The official conferment was done by Acting Inspector General, Major General Anna-Marie Nainda in the absence of Police Inspector General, Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo.

The promotions come after the management of the Police presented its concern to its political leadership over the gap between the salary notches of the Chief Inspector in Grade five and that of the Inspector in Grade seven.  

The salary gap came to be after the job evaluation exercise conducted in 2013, whereby the notch of Chief Inspector was regraded from Grade 6 to Grade 5.  

The re-grading, although good as it was, resulted in the gap between the salary grades of the Chief Inspector and Inspector. 

A total of 51 members, from all the regions, have been promoted to the rank of Senior Inspectors, effective 1st March 2023. 

During the conferment of the officers, Major General Nainda said, they are working on amendments to the Force structure. 

Meanwhile, the Acting Inspector General has also announced that with the support of the Central Government, the Police will soon start a recruitment exercise of more than 1000 young recruits, to strengthen the manpower of the Force, which is on a rapid decrease.