Many know him as the multi-award-winning singer, actor and church deacon.
But when the reformed gangbanger is not wowing audiences on stage or recording big tracks in studios across the country, Naftalie Shigwedha Amukwelele, commonly known as D-Naff, is minding the immigration desk at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security in Windhoek – a job he maintains is closer to his heart than music will ever be.
This, he said, is because of the patriotic nature of the job.
Amukwelele is an immigration officer, with over two decades of service in the public sector, and prides himself on having served in almost all the departments within this ministry since he stepped into its corridors in May 1998.
“Back then, the government did not have any electronic systems – and as a record clerk, my job was to ensure that all documents are manually recorded and filed. This was also around the time of the population survey, and the government was preparing for the installation of the automated system,” Amukwelele remembered.
The year 2005 saw him being promoted to the position of clerk, a position in which he served in different regional offices, namely Outapi, Oshakati, Ondangwa and Eenhana.
His job in the north-central regions primarily involved the registration of births, deaths and marriages as well as issuing national identity cards (IDs) before eventually getting a cross-transfer to Windhoek, where he joined the passports division.
In 2013, he was again promoted to the position of an immigration officer.
“I am now dealing with immigrants. These are people who cross national borders, looking for a better life or working conditions in other countries outside their own. Some are forced to move due to instabilities in their countries of origin.
“People may choose to immigrate for a variety of reasons, such as employment opportunities, to escape a violent conflict, environmental factors, educational purposes or to reunite with family and need work visas, visitor’s entry permits, study permits, permanent residence permits and other similar documents,” he said, further revealing that he has been serving as a secretariat for the Immigration Selection Board, a statutory body that considers applications for permanent residence and employment permits, for the past 10 years.
Why public service?
“I have always admired all service-orientated men and women, and I have always appreciated and admired those who serve their country. To me, there is no job more rewarding than one in which you deliver a life-changing service to an individual. Just knowing that your work helped improve another person’s life keeps one motivated. In short, I joined the government because I wanted to serve,” he said.
But with the joy of servitude comes the heartbreak when the universe fails to comply with the good intentions. This, according to Amukwelele, becomes some of the everyday challenges.
“It becomes very heart-breaking at times when you have to send someone back to a warzone or country of origin because their documents are not adding up – while knowing very well that this individual is fleeing from a dire situation back there. This is where one’s humanity goes head-to-head with your direct order – and naturally, the orders prevail,” Amukwelele reasoned.
Be that as it may, according to the award-winning musician cum public servant, the knowledge that executing one’s job to the letter of the given directive makes Namibia a better place while easing the burden off the supervisors is one that he cherishes.
Even more remarkable are the skills he has managed to pick up on the job through various training opportunities and by observation.
“Our job is like that of the police if not better. We have been inculcated with skills that allow us to spot non-Namibians – even without engaging in any verbal exchanges with them. Having gone through specialised screening training, for example, we can determine that a group of people is being trafficked – even if the trafficker is pretending to be one of the victims. We know when a marriage is not genuine and have identified many of these sham marriages already. It is just a matter of time before government clamps down on them,” Amukwelele revealed, further maintaining the ministry is currently just putting the right systems in place.
He further maintains that working as an immigration officer allows one to realise and practice his or her role as a patriotic Namibian to the fullest, “as one comes to fully understand what carrying that Namibian passport means”.
Queried on what he believes sets civil servants apart from employees in other sectors of the economy, Amukwelele could only sing their praises.
“Selflessness. Working for the government is not for the self-centred,” he stressed.
He, however, maintained there is some truth to public perception that certain civil servants are lazy and largely ineffective.
“The work ethic among civil servants varies from ministry to ministry. There were times when our ministry was also accused of not being productive, and there were delays in the issuing of some national documents, which led to a backlog. This has been rectified, and everything has been smooth sailing after the turnaround strategy. When you put up a system so transparent in an organisation, there is no need to stress because employees will just follow the system. We now have committed employees who are guided by hands-on and encouraging supervisors, and top leadership that is dedicated to their welfare and success of the ministry and government at large,” Amukwelele said.
Here to stay
The towering Amukwelele maintained that only a special offer would make him leave the public sector in this day and age.
“I am advancing in age – and unless I get an offer that is outrageously special, I am going to stay right here until my retirement,” he said.
“We are a great team, and we are led by the best – from the minister, and executive director down to the cleaner. These are leaders who encourage strategic thinking, innovation and action. They are ethical and civic-minded and practice effective cross-cultural communication. My wish and prayer are that the next group will continue where the current ends or even become better. We have always had a harmonious working relationship – and now that we have moved into a new building, our work environment has improved greatly – it is a conducive environment,” he further marvelled.