Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security Albert Kawana on Wednesday said 348 Namibians married foreign nationals in the previous fiscal year.
Kawana made this revelation in parliament while motivating the ministry’s N$5.8 billion budget.
He said, of the 5 831 marriages registered, 348 were between Namibians and foreign nationals, predominantly from neighbouring countries such as Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Furthermore, he said the ministry registered 17 353 deaths during the last financial year. This, he said, is a decrease of 2 579, compared to 19 932 deaths the previous year.
Likewise, Kawana said, during the said period, the ministry issued 1 800 employment permits, 15 606 work visas, 186 permanent residence permits, 802 student permits and 179 tourist visiting visas.
Similarly, he said the ministry rejected 309 employment permits, 653 work visas, 524 permanent residence permits, 400 student permits and 115 holiday tourist visas.
In addition, Kawana said the ministry approved a total of 789 citizen applications, 405 descents, 167 for naturalisation, 124 marriages, 92 registrations and one restoration. Furthermore, Kawana said the ministry approved 41 125 ordinary passports, 254 diplomatic passports, 433 official passports and 322 refugee passports.
Kawana says 89 530 criminal cases were reported, out of which 38 167 suspects were arrested.
Including cases carried forward from the previous year, Kawana said 112 434 cases were cleared, representing a 44% clearance rate.
“This is short of the 50% targeted clearance rate of 16 to 35,” he said.
Furthermore, Kawana said various intelligence-led operations resulted in the seizure of illicit drugs, such as cocaine, mandrax and cannabis, with a combined value of N$41 million.
Additionally, he said, 770 suspects were arrested for wildlife crimes.
He said, during an operation, 108 elephant tusks, 117 pangolins and 59 rhino horns were also confiscated.
Also, he said, 42 unlicensed firearms used in the commission of wildlife crimes were seized.
He also indicated the police recovered assets worth N$35.8 million through their investigative efforts, in line with the provisions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 2004 (Act No 29 of 2004).
These assets, Kawana said, were forfeited to the state for being proceeds or instrumentalities of crime.
Furthermore, Kawana added Namibia, like other countries, has occurrences of stateless and undocumented people, which he described as “very concerning”. “Stateless and undocumented persons are, in most cases, denied numerous human rights that citizens take for granted, such as access to schools and medical care, ownership of property and enjoyment of legal protection,” he told lawmakers.
“The regularisation of stateless and undocumented persons in the country is pertinent to achieving social progression. It should further be noted that this aspect is one of the goals of the Harambee Prosperity Plan II (HPP II),” he added.
He said, to achieve this goal, the ministry has requested all regions to submit lists of potential stateless and undocumented persons to commence with the validation process.
Unfortunately, he said, some regions have not yet responded to the ministry request despite several reminders. “Let me use this opportunity to once more request those regions which did not submit their lists to do so. The requested information will enable the ministry to come up with modalities to legalise the status of stateless and undocumented persons in the country,” Kawana stressed.