Trust us the witness protection programme - Dausab
Witness Protection Act is capital intensive, comprehensive
Government has set aside N$50 million for the implementation of the witness protection programme.
Justice minister Yvonne Dausab has urged the public to trust government’s efforts to build a credible witness protection programme.
Dausab made the call during a Cabinet debriefing session held by her ministry on policy interventions being looked at by her ministry.
“The Witness Protection Act is very capital intensive, but it is also very comprehensive in terms of what kind of activities it undertakes. Because it is such a sensitive space, people would ordinarily not know where we keep our witnesses. I hope the public understands why such persons want to be kept secret so that we can protect the integrity of the system,” Dausab said.
Hard at work
Dausab said government is committed to ensuring the programme is credible, with proper vetting that will be conducted in the appointment of staff members.
“People must have trust in the individual who is going to be the director. People must have trust in the individuals that are going to be working; people must have trust in the staff members that are going to be working, so there is going to be a vetting process to ensure people can be trusted,” she said.
Government has set aside N$50 million for the operationalisation of the programme, with work being done in the background to bring it to life.
“The intention on our part as a ministry is to ensure we deplete these funds during this financial year, and it’s really to set up the unit, to find office space, to fund infrastructure that we will require, and to make the institutional arrangements for where people [whistle-blowers] will be placed,” Dausab said.
“You can imagine that once it becomes operationalised, all the institutions, they will be expecting the ministry to take over, of administering witness protection and the whistle-blower protection,” she added.
Dausab made the call during a Cabinet debriefing session held by her ministry on policy interventions being looked at by her ministry.
“The Witness Protection Act is very capital intensive, but it is also very comprehensive in terms of what kind of activities it undertakes. Because it is such a sensitive space, people would ordinarily not know where we keep our witnesses. I hope the public understands why such persons want to be kept secret so that we can protect the integrity of the system,” Dausab said.
Hard at work
Dausab said government is committed to ensuring the programme is credible, with proper vetting that will be conducted in the appointment of staff members.
“People must have trust in the individual who is going to be the director. People must have trust in the individuals that are going to be working; people must have trust in the staff members that are going to be working, so there is going to be a vetting process to ensure people can be trusted,” she said.
Government has set aside N$50 million for the operationalisation of the programme, with work being done in the background to bring it to life.
“The intention on our part as a ministry is to ensure we deplete these funds during this financial year, and it’s really to set up the unit, to find office space, to fund infrastructure that we will require, and to make the institutional arrangements for where people [whistle-blowers] will be placed,” Dausab said.
“You can imagine that once it becomes operationalised, all the institutions, they will be expecting the ministry to take over, of administering witness protection and the whistle-blower protection,” she added.
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