Vet kids verification off to shaky start

AS the verification of registered ‘struggle children’ in the Oshikoto Region starts on a shaky note, the Ministry of Youth is planning the relocation to Berg Aukas of a number of those who have been demonstrating at Swapo offices countrywide.

Registration at the Oshikoto Regional Council at Omuthiya got off to a tense start, with radio reports saying that the situation nearly turned violent.The Police denied this.The Oshana Regional Commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, told The Namibian yesterday that the situation wasn’t nearly as dramatic as made out by radio reports.He said at the start of the process on Monday afternoon, squabbles broke out between factions of the people born in exile.One group of ‘struggle children’ asked to be attended to first because they lived far from Omuthiya and had no accommodation at the town. Those who lived nearby were not impressed with the request, but the situation has since calmed down, Kashihakumwa said.This wasn’t the first difference of opinion among the ‘struggle children’ – recently they were divided about whether to be relocated to Berg Aukas or to stay put at the Swapo offices.The Government in late September announced that it had allocated N$2 million for moving the ‘struggle children’ to a State-owned farm at Berg Aukas while Government works on their demands for training and jobs. Contacted for comment yesterday, the spokesperson of the group camping at Swapo’s headquarters in Windhoek, Salomo Shinedima, refused to comment on reported divisions between the group, only reiterating that the group had agreed to be moved, and that he had encouraged his fellow youth to remain calm.A visit to the headquarters on Monday, however, revealed that there were still those who were intent on making the Swapo headquarters their home, and who did not want to move to Berg Aukas.The Ministry has made it clear that those who refuse to be relocated would have to face Swapo on their own.The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Peingeondjabi Shipoh, yesterday told The Namibian that only Swapo could pronounce itself on the future of those who stay on its property.He again appealed to the youth to return to their families for registration and verification.He said their relocation to Berg Aukas was not Government’s first choice. ‘It is the last option! Ideally, we would like to see them integrated with their families,’ he said.The Namibia Exile Kids Association (NEKA) has also said that it will have nothing to do with those who refuse to move from the Swapo offices.NEKA spokesperson Benitha Nakaambo said the organisation would ‘disassociate itself from those who remain behind’.She said Swapo or Government would then have to deal with them, and the party could end up going to court to get an eviction order, as TransNamib did last year when the protesters refused to vacate its property rented by the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs.Nakaambo also urged the youth to return to their homes and families, saying that ‘only those truly without families’ would be relocated.Just over 10 100 ‘struggle children’ have registered so far. The verification process is expected to continue until the end of January.nangula@namibian.com.na