Domestic violence, infanticide, and the recent string of gruesome murders of women, the President said, rather point to a society whose members are throwing away its moral values.

"I am deeply concerned about the increasing levels of domestic violence which targets the vulnerable members of our society, particularly women, children and the elderly," Pohamba said.

"Hardly a month passes without reports of violent and brutal crimes against our women and children.

Many have fallen victim to murderers who have resorted to brutalising and dismembering them," he added.

The president was speaking at the opening of the first annual Conference on Crime Prevention and Safety in Windhoek yesterday.

"With frequent regularity we hear about cases of infanticide, where newborn babies are dumped in refuse bins in different parts of the country.

Where is the morality of the people who engage in these merciless attacks? Where is the humanity of those who treat fellow human beings in such a cruel manner?" the President asked.

He suggested that parents, teachers and communities should re-emphasise respect and ethical values when they educate children.

Children, he said, must be taught from a young age to shun dishonesty and crime.
"It should become second nature to our citizens to act and behave with honesty and respect at all time," Pohamba said.

The current state of affairs, he said, is becoming a threat not only to local communities, but also to the stable atmosphere needed for investment and socio-economic stability and development.

"A high crime rate will work against our efforts to attract both local and foreign investments.

They will also negatively affect Namibia's international rating and competitiveness as a safe destination for investment and tourism," Pohamba said.

The conference was attended by various law enforcing agencies, not only from Namibia but also the rest of SADC.

Also speaking at the opening was French Ambassador Philippe Bossiere, who echoed the importance of strong morals in fighting crime.

Cities such as Orleans in France, he said, have managed to reduce their crime rate by 50 per cent in five years by using preventive as well as repressive policies.

"What I mean by prevention is the teaching of strong moral values in school, the providing of support to parents who do not know how to deal with children, strong anti-alcoholic programmes and other initiatives that result in community support towards the youth," Bossiere said.

By repressive means, he added, he meant that police need to optimise their reactivity, while ensuring that police officers are well trained and deployed where crime is most rife.

"It also implicates a perfect co-operation between all the security stakeholders, (namely) national and city police forces, the judiciary system, security companies and the community," he said.