Staff Writer
Police Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga said the verification on the missing guns is complete and that he has ordered officers to open a criminal case.
About 90 guns were discovered missing on 10 November from the Windhoek Police depot during stock-taking.
Ndeitunga confirmed the arresting of a suspect in connection with the missing guns on Saturday.
The suspect, Ndeitunga said, was being interrogated.
The Inspector-General could not say much about the suspect apart from that they needed to establish the facts.
He also said the police are still investigating the matter, and there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
On Wednesday, some police sources told The Villager that a woman had been arrested for the missing guns.
According to the sources, the woman is an officer who was arrested after her neighbours had tipped off the police after she gave them some guns and uniforms to keep.
In November, Ndeitunga told The Village that he ordered an investigation when he was informed about the missing guns.
On Saturday, Ndeitunga said the verification report was completed and ordered a criminal case to be opened.
“We thought that the guns had been issued to other officers because of poor records keeping. The verification report suggests that this is not what happened,” Ndeitunga said.
Last month, Ndeitunga said where the guns are kept is guarded around the cloak.
He also said there are cameras and that if the cameras were not working, he never received a report about it.
Ndeitunga said the guns were in boxes, and it is not clear whether they were issued out and never recorded or someone stole them.
The Inspector-General also said it could be possible that the guns were taken out one by one at different times.
“It could also be that there is poor record-keeping,” Ndeitunga said.
He said there should be periodic checks done, not only on the guns but all other departments of the police.
These periodic inspections can be done either once or twice a year.
Another source who told The Villager that they saw the verification report said it paints a very bad picture of how the guns are kept.
According to the source, the report said there are no cameras, and the depot is not guarded.
Police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi last month said there was no break-in where the guns are kept.