2018-02-26Staff Report 2 Albertina Nakale Windhoek-Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, Frans Kapofi, is astonished by the number of foreigners desperately wanting to acquire Namibian national documents pertaining to work, study and permanent residence permits. Kapofi, who invited the media on Friday to officially meet him and his deputy Maureen Hinda at the ministry since their recent deployment by President Hage Geingob, said the list of agencies seeking Namibian national documents on behalf of their clients from around the world is overwhelming. He, however, could not provide any figure, apart from stating that the list is long. Kapofi said the clients are paying ‘good money’ to agencies to facilitate their national document applications at the ministry. According to him, these are people of different nationalities such as Africans, Europeans and Asians wanting to be Namibians. Further, he explained some agencies are helping foreigners to come to Namibia and get documents through arranged marriages. “I didn’t know the magnitude of the demand of people coming here. Some of them just want to come and work here. You cannot understand the urgency. People go to the extent of having agencies here just to find a lady who is ready to marry. They arrive at the airport and the next day, they are in court and that’s the end of the marriage. The guy lives here and the lady lives in the village somewhere else. It becomes suspicious,” Kapofi reacted. Kapofi revealed that there are people who would go to any length to acquire Namibian national documents through ill means. Equally, he warned employees of the ministry of home affairs who involve themselves in corrupt activities through bribes so they can issue national documents to desperate foreigners. The ministry has also on numerous occasions cautioned foreigners not to fall prey to fake Namibian agents, who promise to get them documents quicker, and then disappear with their money. Kapofi warned that there are consequences for these corrupt employees including dismissal from employment. “The processes that are here now are such that those loopholes that might have been existing are being closed, seriously. But as I said, there are people who are prepared to bypass that system. How do we know all that? It is because people get caught every day and they confess so that’s how we know. There are also people outside who are reporting that I was approached by those who want documents,” he said. The ministry’s ID Production and Birth Registration Director, Anette Bayer-Forsingdal, guaranteed that any nationality who wants to apply for birth a certificate, passport and national identification document should go through the same checking processes and fingerprints. “There is none who is exempted from our processes. We have a track and trace system. Our staff knows very well that no application for anybody should bypass that system. When it comes to civil registration service, you also have to present yourself. Nobody can apply for an ID on your behalf, just as nobody can apply for a birth certificate for your child on your behalf. That’s for security reasons,” she noted. 2018-02-26Staff Report 2
