Charles Ndeumane
OSHAANDJA – He is Namibian-born, married to a Namibian, and even though all his children are registered in his surname and are Namibian, an 83-year-old man has allegedly been denied national documents for nearly two decades.
Oshaandja villager Fillemon Johannes’ efforts to obtain Namibian citizenship and other national documents for more than 20 years have hit a brick wall at every attempt, with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Safety and Security allegedly tossing him from pillar to post.
He says the situation has affected him and his family negatively, and as elections approach, he would have loved to vote, but he cannot even get a voter’s card.
“I was born in Ouhongo village in Ohangwena region in the year 1941, and I never had national documents. It did not seem a problem back then because there were many people who had no documents,although they managed to obtain them later. I have been trying hard to be recognised as a Namibian citizen for more than 20 years. But every time I went to the ministry of home affairs in Oshakati, I was either told to wait while they verify my information, or referred to Eenhana home affairs’ office since it’s in the region where I was born,” said Johannes.
After getting married to his Namibian wife Elina Amon in 2017, Fillemon, who is physically challenged, was hopeful that it would help his situation, but nothing changed.
His wife said the situation has and continues to deeply affect their family, especially financially.
“I don’t know why he can’t be given national documents after all our efforts.
He has lived in Namibia his whole life, he even built Oshakati hospital with others, and most of his friends have received documents during the ministry of home affairs campaign when they issued documents to people in the villages,” said Amon.
Home affairs’ public relations officer Margaret Kalo said some elderly people lose their national documents and as time goes, they forget they had documents.
“The ministry is urging people to get birth certificates for their children at the hospital after delivery to avoid having them bocome old without national documents,” said Kalo.
Not true
Meanwhile, Oshakati West constituency councillor Aram Martin dismissed the family’s claims that months can pass without them receiving drought relief food because officials allegedly say they are too many in their household to be registered for drought relief food. “It’s not factual, because we prioritise those households with many people as they need drought relief food the most,” he said.
“It would have been much better for our family if he was given national documents because then he would be receiving an old age grant, and we would help each other to provide for the family and run the house. We are 13 people in the household, and nobody has a job or stable income. The family mostly relies on my pension fund for survival. Unfortunately, months can pass by without receiving drought relief food, even though other households get it. Apparently we are too many in the household to be registered to receive drought relief food,” added Amon.