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Home / Influx of foreigners overwhelms home affairs
Influx of foreigners overwhelms home affairs
2018-06-06Staff Report 2 Kuzeeko Tjitemisa WINDHOEK – The high number of foreigners willing to settle in Namibia is one of the greatest concerns facing the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, says home affairs minister Frans Kapofi. Kapofi flagged this to Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila who paid the ministry a familiarisation tour this week. “I will just want to make one or two emphases to you Comrade PM. The desire for people to live in Namibia is a concern that we have. We do not exactly know whether it is because life is good or there are other motives because people are going to any extent just to make sure that they stay in Namibia and it is a worrisome trend Honourable PM,” said Kapofi. The other challenge faced by home affairs is its inability to set up outreach programmes as per the demand of regional councillors. “There has been request by regional councillors to set up outreach programmes in their respective constituencies but due to limited resources the ministry has been unable to do so,” he said. Kapofi also complained about the lack of space at the ministry’s headquarters saying if it were possible or if resources permitted they would have liked to have a bigger office. Other challenges highlighted by the Department of Immigration Control and Citizenship’s acting chief immigration officer, Nehemia Nghishekwa, include the lack of suitable vehicles for joint patrols, an insufficient training budget and accommodation for border officials. Nghishekwa said the challenge is also the circulation of fraudulent passports and attempts by foreigners to obtain passports with fraudulently obtained birth certificates and identification documents (IDs). “The other challenge Honourable PM is the Angolans with SWA ID’s who are not falling under the Cabinet exemption for requirement citizenship by naturalisation,” he said. On her part, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila thanked the minister and his staff for sharing what she termed important information. She said on the issue of the resources she has taken note of it, adding that she knows that many offices across government somehow have been affected negatively due to the fiscal consolidation taking place. “I am glad to hear that you are making efforts to promote the realisation of the reduction of wastages in the public service through the implementation of the directives that I have issued in this regard, and we’re hoping that the implementation of these directives will help us to realise some saving to enable us to provide some additional funding for programmes that are currently not funded,” she said. 2018-06-06Staff Report 2
