Windhoek
A new group of 84 young people allegedly born in exile during the country’s liberation struggle surfaced yesterday morning at the Swapo headquarters – vowing to stay put until government offers them jobs.
The demonstrators said they have waited in vain for seven years to get jobs from government.
Among the new group are seven ‘struggle kids’ from the previous group that was camping in Okahandja Park informal settlement, who did not secure any employment in the recent prisons recruitment.
The new group, calling itself Omwene Tuuda (meaning God hear us), consists of young people from Oshikoto, Oshana, Ohangwena, Omusati, //Karas and Erongo regions. Some of them arrived yesterday from different regions and marched straight to the Swapo headquarters to submit their petition to Swapo Secretary General Nangolo Mbumba. Police denied them entry to the ruling party’s premises and asked them to vacate the premises.
The petition, which was submitted in the form of a letter and addressed to Mbumba, was received by an unidentified man from the Swapo office.
The letter says that since the struggle kids were registered in 2008 for possible employment in government they have been waiting at their homes in vain.
“We respect our leaders in the government but now they don’t count us. It has also been a while just waiting,” reads the petition.
“Now we won’t move anywhere until they recruit us, because that is the only language which is understandable.”
The group dismissed as lies the claims by the Namibian Exile Kids Association (Neka) that members of the previous group from Okahandja Park, which left the site some weeks ago, all secured jobs. Neka Secretary General Rauna Amutati said the association has no information about the new group that also demands a leadership reshuffle in Neka.
Some group members claim their names have been replaced on the recruitment list with names of children born inside the country, as well as recruitment committee relatives.
They also said the names of some people who already have jobs appear on the lists.
“You will find a person who already has a cleaning job but their name will appear in the police and this gives them the power to change jobs,” claimed the group.
Among the group is Shikongo Nghinambedi, a father of four. He said he was struggling to support his children from the odd jobs he does.
“I was born in Kwanza-Sul in Angola and my mother passed away in exile, and my father has a lot of children. He can’t take care of all of us,” he said. A group of 23 ‘struggle kids’ from Ohangwena Region have been camping near the Namibian Police Force’s Ruben Danger Ashipala Training Centre at Ondangwa since August 30. The group claim they were supposed to undergo training at the centre, but their names “were removed from a list of recruits”.