RUNDU – A high-ranking police officer in Kavango East says some residents only wear face masks to appease law enforcement officers. 
Deputy Commissioner Vilho Kalwenya, who is in charge of operations in the region, said police officers have noticed a disturbing tendency where some members of the public only wear their masks at the sight of police officers. 
“I don’t know if it is difficult to wear masks or not. People are carrying masks but they only put them on when they see the police,” said Kalwenya. 

“Don’t wait until the security guard at the shop tells you to wear it before entering or when you see police officers. It is for your safety and others around you please.” 
Kalwenya has, however, noted that the public is adhering to the curfew. 
“I must say during our Covid-19 operation on the streets, in the beginning, it was tough, as the public didn’t want to understand,” he said. 
“We have the festive season operation that has been running concurrently with the HoKaNam, which will go up to 25 February. At the same time, we have ongoing operations focusing on enforcing the law on the pandemic, as well as enforcing the curfew. Everything is going well; the public is adhering, although we have some who are not adhering.” 

According to Kalwenya, taxi operators were also a problem in the beginning, as they were still taking chances to move during the curfew. 
“We are trying to stop them, but since we started with our intense operation on 31 December to 2 January, we have started recording a low movement of cars from 20h00; they are not moving too much. Most cars that we are coming across really have reasons, and those travelling long distances are parking to overnight at service stations and roadblocks,” he said. 
Kalwenya noted that crime has decreased during the curfew period, as everybody is at their homes.
- jmuyamba@nepc.com.na