Police will no longer certify foreign documents

The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation says certifying foreign documents is outside of police officers’ mandate.

In a letter dated 19 July, executive director of international relations and cooperation Penda Naanda wrote to his counterpart at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, Etienne Maritz, saying the Namibian mission in Beijing, China, had raised concerns over the Namibian Police certifying foreign public documents.

“The mission has come across a number of Chinese public documents such as passports which have been certified by the Namibian police,” he wrote.

Naanda said this was not allowed as the police has no legal capacity to authenticate the originality of a foreign document.

“The same applies in China, as Namibian citizens who have attempted to get their Namibian public documents certified at local police stations have been referred to the Namibian embassy, which is the correct procedure,” he said.

Naanda said should a Chinese public document or any foreign document be presented at any police station to be certified, the individual presenting such a document should be referred to a notary or to the Chinese embassy or relevant foreign embassy.

This has been confirmed by national police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi, who says Naanda’s internal memo had been sent to all police stations to ensure the information reaches all officers.

Although she cannot say whether the directive was linked to any criminal activity inside or outside the country, Shikwambi says it was reasonable because Namibian police officers have no way of telling whether a foreign document was authentic or not.

“We have been implementing the directive since July, referring people to their respective embassies or consulates, but the biggest challenge is where to refer those foreigners whose countries are not officially represented in Namibia.

“They have to go to say, South Africa, if there are representative offices here,” she says.

Some of the foreign nationals who have been affected by this directive are Zimbabweans, who have expressed concern on social media that they now pay N$100 at the Zimbabwean embassy in Windhoek to have copies of their national documents certified – a service they used to access free at police stations. – email: matthew@namibian.com.na