About 200 children of the liberation struggle yesterday had to be dispersed by the police using rubber bullets, after they have chained the entrance to the veterans ministry, following the ministry’s failure to meet their demands.

Six people, including a 14-month-old toddler, were picked up by the police for contravening the law on public gatherings and conducting an illegal protest.

However, the regional crime investigations coordinator in Khomas, Chrispin Mubebo denied that the toddler was arrested.

He clarified that she was taken to a place of safety.

Mubebo said police denied protesters entry to the building and asked them to vacate the premises. 

“The police gave them 30 minutes to vacate the premises and remove their chain but they refused. Most of them had used babies as a defensive matter for the police not to use teargas. We have just used other means of force to avoid injuries to babies,” he explained. 

Three hours after the commotion, the toddler who was reported to be on medication, was still in the hands of the police at the gender-based violence (GBV) unit.

Mubebo said the police questioned the suspects on who the rightful parents of the baby were.

“They all said they are not the parents. Hence, we are now going to find out who are the rightful parents. After establishing that, we will see if there is possible negligence of the baby or not,” he said.

The mother of the child, Elizabeth Halweendo said her daughter was carried by one of her colleagues who was arrested. 

“When the police used force, he put the child on the ground, thinking I will pick her up. I also ran for my life not knowing that the child was behind and taken away by the police,” she said.

Mubebo explained that the group allegedly handed over a petition to the ministry last December with their demands. They followed the right procedures by alerting the police who escorted them when they handed over their petition.

“This time around, they did not inform the police about their gathering. That gathering of more than 20 people is illegal, as the police were not notified. Again, they have used force to chain the entrance stopping staff from entering the office,” indicated Mubebo.

However, the group indicated that they demanded that the veterans ministry register them as they are offsprings of the ex-combatants who do not belong to the youth ministry that registered them in 2008 for possible employment in government. They said they have been waiting at their homes in vain since then.

“Our demands are straightforward. We just want to see the minister himself. We want to give our grievances in person. We still want to see him,” they demanded.

They also demanded that their group be recognised in the allocation of fishing rights and quotas.

“We were harmless and only went there to demand our answers. We are not violent but the police brutalised us. We want immediate release of our four brothers, a sister as well as our toddler,” they said.

Other struggling kids were also injured during the commotion.

The spokesperson of veterans’ affairs Edson Haufiku confirmed that the petition was received and the minister has responded.

I am not privy to the content of the letter as it was sealed in the envelope, however, I understand the group was not satisfied with the answer and tore the paper away. This morning before people got to work, the group chained the entrance and stopped everyone from entering the office,” he said.

- ljason@nepc.com.na