Allexer Namundjembo
Applications from 52 972 young people inundated the Namibian Police Force (NAMPOL) for 2 000 positions advertised during a recent recruitment drive for the 2024/2025 financial year.
The numbers were confirmed by Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi, the head of Nampol’s public relations division..
“The overall recruitment figure was 2 000, which includes a special recruitment category,” Shikwambi said.
She explained that the additional candidates will be drawn from crime prevention groups such as the Women and Men Network Against Crime, NYS graduates, and reservists from across the country.
This surge in applications comes at a time when the youth unemployment rate remains alarmingly high.
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) earlier in the year announced that the country’s unemployment rate stands at 36.9%.
Shikwambi added that the current police training cohort is expected to graduate on 23 May, after which a new intake for the 2025/2026 cycle will begin training in July.
The training will run for nine months.
This is broken down into six months of basic training followed by three months of work-integrated learning and practical experience.
NAMPOL’s recruitment drives recently continue to reflect both the intense demand for employment and the institution’s efforts to boost its ranks.
In 2023, a similarly massive response was recorded when 42 967 applicants competed for only 1 000 cadet constable positions, and 2 398 were shortlisted.
That year, over 1 100 cadet constables were recruited, with 842 beginning training at the Ruben ‘Danger’ Ashipala Police Training Centre in the Oshana Region on 1 August.
The group included 572 males and 270 females from all 14 regions.
