Home Affairs generates income

THE Ministry of Home Affairs has generated N$69,5 million in the past 12 months through the issuing of passports and permits, Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Rosalia Nghidinwa announced on Wednesday.

She was motivating her ministry’s budget of N$119 million for the new financial year in the National Assembly. The Minister added that she hoped her ministry would soon generate enough funds to cover all its expenses.The largest chunk of the Ministry’s budget allocation, N$65,2 million, goes to civil registrations where the population register is kept.Efforts to computerise birth, marriage and death records were ongoing, she said.Ten mobile units would be bought soon to allow better coverage in rural areas to issue certificates and identity documents (IDs).During the past 12 months, some 189 748 ID cards had been produced, while 114 946 IDs were collected.”Since 1995, 912 501 IDs were issued to citizens,” Nghidinwa said.”Over 106 562 ID cards are waiting to be collected.”The electronic national population register server (NPRS) was being upgraded and paper records were being fed into the electronic database.Births might soon be registered at the maternity wards of hospitals, the Minister announced.While passports were now being issued within 10 working days after application, a faster system could be introduced soon, allowing for an “express passport service” within one day or even within one hour, which would cost a lot more than for the usual 10-day period.”We plan to procure a new and very secure passport issuance system capable of personalising electronic passports, machine-readable passports and border passes.”The Ministry is further looking into modern electronic border-control systems in anticipation of a visitor influx for the 2010 Soccer World Cup hosted in neighbouring South Africa and the African Cup of nations the same year in Angola.These two events would pose a challenge to immigration control to ensure that “would-be crime lords” do not take advantage of the expected tourist influx, she said.The Ministry is also investigating the possibility of establishing border posts at Nkurenkuru, Katwitwi, Kashamane, Singalamwe and Dobe.The processing of work and residence permits is still taking longer than the envisaged 60 days in some cases, but a new automated permit control system will accelerate the process soon.”We also envisage an electronic visa system, which will simplify the work of the immigration selection board immensely,” Nghidinwa said.In the past 12 months, some 3,02 million people have passed through Namibian border posts – 1,58 million arrivals and 1,43 million departures – while 1 653 illegal immigrants were deported.The Minister added that she hoped her ministry would soon generate enough funds to cover all its expenses.The largest chunk of the Ministry’s budget allocation, N$65,2 million, goes to civil registrations where the population register is kept.Efforts to computerise birth, marriage and death records were ongoing, she said.Ten mobile units would be bought soon to allow better coverage in rural areas to issue certificates and identity documents (IDs).During the past 12 months, some 189 748 ID cards had been produced, while 114 946 IDs were collected.”Since 1995, 912 501 IDs were issued to citizens,” Nghidinwa said.”Over 106 562 ID cards are waiting to be collected.”The electronic national population register server (NPRS) was being upgraded and paper records were being fed into the electronic database.Births might soon be registered at the maternity wards of hospitals, the Minister announced.While passports were now being issued within 10 working days after application, a faster system could be introduced soon, allowing for an “express passport service” within one day or even within one hour, which would cost a lot more than for the usual 10-day period.”We plan to procure a new and very secure passport issuance system capable of personalising electronic passports, machine-readable passports and border passes.”The Ministry is further looking into modern electronic border-control systems in anticipation of a visitor influx for the 2010 Soccer World Cup hosted in neighbouring South Africa and the African Cup of nations the same year in Angola.These two events would pose a challenge to immigration control to ensure that “would-be crime lords” do not take advantage of the expected tourist influx, she said.The Ministry is also investigating the possibility of establishing border posts at Nkurenkuru, Katwitwi, Kashamane, Singalamwe and Dobe.The processing of work and residence permits is still taking longer than the envisaged 60 days in some cases, but a new automated permit control system will accelerate the process soon.”We also envisage an electronic visa system, which will simplify the work of the immigration selection board immensely,” Nghidinwa said.In the past 12 months, some 3,02 million people have passed through Namibian border posts – 1,58 million arrivals and 1,43 million departures – while 1 653 illegal immigrants were deported.