By Chrispin Inambao WINDHOEK A bale of clothing shipped thousands of kilometres from Luxembourg to needy children particularly orphans in Kavango Region, is on the verge of being returned because authorities want to levy customs duty on the donated second-hand clothing. Donors in Luxembourg, a high-income European country, opened their hearts, generously responding to an appeal for assistance to orphans when Elizabeth Hilger, the founder of Theresia’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children Foundation requested assistance. Hilger, who has committed herself to promote the welfare of needy children in the region with the highest number of street kids, requested second-hand clothing from donors so that the 163 minors in her care could be clothed warmly during the prevailing cold season. Touched by her request, donors selflessly managed to gather 250 kg of second-hand clothing. They shipped the clothes to Walvis Bay at their own cost, but the shipment is still in a customs and excise warehouse as it can only be cleared once import duty is paid on it. Woker Freight Services, a clearing and forwarding company whose forte is being a go-between between importers and customs, has notified her that customs and excise can only release the goods once she pays N$6 250 or N$25 per kg of second-hand clothing. In the past, the Ministry of Finance used to issue rebate permits that exempted charities importing second-hand clothing from paying import duty, but it has since stopped doing so because certain unscrupulous business people abused this provision with impunity. Woker Freight Services has advised Hilger that only used toys can be imported duty-free and only if the importing welfare organization produced a welfare certificate, but this is not the case when it comes to the importation of second-hand clothing. And because Namibia is a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) whose other members are South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, the country would have to refer the issue to the customs union through a local SACU Committee even if the clothing is to be exempted from import duty. This process takes months. SACU’s aim is to maintain free interchange of goods between members. Namibia derives a huge chunk of its revenue from SACU through an agreed revenue-sharing formula. It appears the clothing initially donated for orphans and needy children in Kavango would end up being sent back to Europe or it may be auctioned off by customs and excise at the end of the maximum three months during which goods can be stored. The philanthropic self-employed woman appears to have exhausted all avenues for assistance for the clothing to be cleared and distributed to needy children who are currently shivering in the cold prevailing in Kavango like the rest of the country. When she contacted Godfrey Kabozu, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise in the Ministry of Finance, she was referred to the Customs and Excise Act of 1998. Kabozu explained that clothing, whether it is used or is brand new, is not included in the list of items that can be granted a rebate certificate so that no duty is payable on them. She has expressed dissatisfaction with regard to the manner in which customs and excise officials have handled the matter in a letter she drafted and posted to Tjekero Tweya, the Deputy Minister of Finance. “I also contacted the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare to find out whether they can help us to look into the matter, but without success,” Hilger stated. She is of the view this particular case could send wrong signals to donors who are already sceptical and that they may have second thoughts when local welfare organizations nursing and caring for orphans request assistance, because of the feeling it may also be wasted. She says it is also self-defeating and hypocritical that powers that be daily preach about addressing the issue of orphans but yet when individuals like herself come to the fore and make sacrifices to assist needy children, they are being frustrated left, right and centre. “It’s really disheartening. The government must look into this because they are not asking me to pay but they are asking these poor children,” Hilger told New Era last Friday. Sirkka Ausiku, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, said before Hilger approached donors she should have contacted her for advice on how to go about the issue and following “the right procedure”. She said in as much as the ministry would like to assist these needy children, nobody is above the tax law and that people should operate within the parameters of the law. “When people request assistance from donors, it must be done within the parameters of the law. When they want assistance, they must engage us from the beginning so that we can guide them and they should not approach us when they run into problems,” she said. As for now, the dozens of orphaned children at this centre would have to be content with thread-bare clothing in the worst cases though a huge bale of clothing literally “rots” in a warehouse waiting to be returned to Luxembourg or to be sold on auction.