Kapofi demands better conduct from soldiers
... ‘Expected to carry themselves differently’
"You are a patriot; you are trained to be completely exemplary," Kapofi told his ministry's staff members yesterday.
Defence minister Frans Kapofi says members of the Namibia Defence Force (NDF) should carry themselves in an exemplary manner because they chose a special career and placed the interests of the country before their own needs.
He made the remarks while addressing ministry staff members at an engagement yesterday.
Kapofi told defence staff members that if they were to commit offences in public while off-duty, it would reflect negatively on the force as a whole.
Soldiers, he said, are expected to carry themselves differently by societal norms.
“When you see something happening, the soldier will fight somebody, whether on-duty, off-duty, but the headline in the newspaper will be NDF soldier, member of the NDF who was involved, who was in a kambashu [shebeen] cooling off [while] there was a fracas.”
“The people who are going to be pinpointed is you, it’s not the other person. It does not matter because people expect you to behave differently. You are a patriot; you are trained to be completely exemplary,” Kapofi told staff members of his ministry.
NDF weapons being sold
The minister also questioned the conduct of ministerial staff members who sell weapons that were used in the commission of crimes.
“When you are on duty but you are stealing ammunition and guns to sell, is that really soldierly? Now the person is caught stealing, they have the keys of our logistics; they steal from there, selling Makarov pistols, AK-47s that will be used to go and kill rhinos. Soldiers [are] involved in poaching, and you call yourself a soldier?”
Members of the NDF aiding and abetting in the commission of crimes did not belong in the army, Kapofi said.
“You do not belong here. That person cannot belong in such a wonderful organisation,” he said.
He made the remarks while addressing ministry staff members at an engagement yesterday.
Kapofi told defence staff members that if they were to commit offences in public while off-duty, it would reflect negatively on the force as a whole.
Soldiers, he said, are expected to carry themselves differently by societal norms.
“When you see something happening, the soldier will fight somebody, whether on-duty, off-duty, but the headline in the newspaper will be NDF soldier, member of the NDF who was involved, who was in a kambashu [shebeen] cooling off [while] there was a fracas.”
“The people who are going to be pinpointed is you, it’s not the other person. It does not matter because people expect you to behave differently. You are a patriot; you are trained to be completely exemplary,” Kapofi told staff members of his ministry.
NDF weapons being sold
The minister also questioned the conduct of ministerial staff members who sell weapons that were used in the commission of crimes.
“When you are on duty but you are stealing ammunition and guns to sell, is that really soldierly? Now the person is caught stealing, they have the keys of our logistics; they steal from there, selling Makarov pistols, AK-47s that will be used to go and kill rhinos. Soldiers [are] involved in poaching, and you call yourself a soldier?”
Members of the NDF aiding and abetting in the commission of crimes did not belong in the army, Kapofi said.
“You do not belong here. That person cannot belong in such a wonderful organisation,” he said.
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