Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Katutura volunteers cry for help

Home National Katutura volunteers cry for help
Katutura volunteers cry for help

Twenty-one disgruntled youth volunteers at the Katutura Youth Complex (KYC), tasked with looking after the homeless people at the centre following the Covid-19 outbreak last year, are crying out for help.

The group representative Janine Dickmann told New Era this week that although they were promised to receive an allowance, they have to date not received a penny from the government – even though they turn up to work every day since last April.

“We have reached a brick wall. We have knocked on every office door in this country. We have written to the office of the Prime Minister, the health ministry, the office of the Ombudsman and UNICEF but all we get is promises after promises,” Dickmann said.

“How on earth does government think we survive during this difficult time? We are not asking for a salary but the allowance as promised. The last time I checked with the ministry of health, they said they haven’t received any funds for us from UNICEF. This is their daily song; how do they expect us to survive?”

She said they have been sent from pillar to post by the health ministry and almost all government offices. 

“We want the minister of health Dr Kalumbi Shangula to tell us on the way forward,” she added.

Shangula and the health ministry’s executive director Ben Nangombe did not respond to questions sent to them, while Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua’s phone went unanswered.  

The volunteers are tasked to clean and cook for the homeless people brought by government to the centre in April last year. 

Late last year, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) reported that the volunteers expressed unhappiness about the treatment they receive from their supervisor at the shelter.

At the time, disgruntled volunteers said since they started looking after the homeless housed at the complex, little appreciation was shown for their work.

They also accused their supervisor of lack of communication, and nepotism and favouritism are just some of the hardships they face daily.