Struggle kids at Berg Aukas

A TOTAL OF 540 ‘children of the liberation struggle’, who had been camping at Swapo offices across the country, have now been relocated to Berg Aukas.

The move, which started on Saturday morning and was completed yesterday, effectively cleared Swapo’s various offices of the campers, though a few ‘struggle children’ were left behind.The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Youth, Peingeondjabi Shipoh, yesterday told The Namibian that the move on Saturday went well, with the remaining few being picked up at Oshakati yesterday morning.He added, however, that at each location, some protestors had been left behind, as they had returned to their homes following Government’s initial appeal to the ‘children’ to go home. He said these protestors returned to the Swapo officers when they got wind that the relocation was taking place, thus defeating the purpose of the temporary move to the farm outside Grootfontein.’Someone is sowing seeds of confusion, telling them that people are being recruited for jobs at Berg Aukas,’ Shipoh said.He added that those who served as leaders at the camps at the Swapo offices would also serve as the leaders at the farm, and that anyone who hiked there hoping to get a job would be identified by these leaders.When The Namibian visited the Swapo offices yesterday, a group of ‘children’ who said they had been left behind were distraught, saying that they had not been allowed to board the buses to Berg Aukas because their names did not appear on the latest list.They said although they had participated in many of the demonstrations of the ‘children’, and had documentation to prove that they were born in exile during the struggle, they were left behind because the camp leaders did not know them.By yesterday afternoon, they were still seeking an audience at the Khomas Regional Council.Asked where they would be sleeping last night, the group replied that they would have to return to their families, because Swapo didn’t want them at their offices.’We want to go to Berg Aukas. We want to follow the others, and we want this to be done this week.’Shipoh said ‘anyone occupying the Swapo offices must be a guest of Swapo’, adding that it was Swapo’s own discretion whether or not to allow campers on the party’s premises. Responding to questions about who would be responsible for the huge mess left behind by the protestors at the Swapo offices, Shipoh said that his Ministry never hosted them there. ‘What do we do? We didn’t invite them to camp at the Swapo premises.’Meanwhile, it seems those who have been relocated are happy with the move.Speaking to The Namibian by phone yesterday, the spokesperson for the Windhoek group, Salomo Shinedima, said: ‘Everything is fine, and is going according to plan.’When asked to describe the conditions at the farm, he simply said the farm was ‘better’ and that the setup was ‘like the way we used to live in exile’. ‘We are all okay. Everybody is happy,’ he added.Describing the conditions at Berg Aukas, Permanent Secretary Shipoh said: ‘They are not starving, but they are not at a five-star hotel either.’He said the 540 people were receiving the basics in terms of food and amenities, that there was clean water at the farm, and that they would soon be put to work to keep them busy during their stay there.Namibia Exiled Kids Association (NEKA) spokesperson Benitha Nakaambo said the organisation was also happy with the relocation.nangula@namibian.com.na