Police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi has confirmed that the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) notice for a nationwide demonstration has been received and that inspector general Joseph Shikongo’s office will respond.
“We can confirm that their notice has been received this afternoon,” Shikwambi said.
“Their issue will be addressed and I’m sure they will receive a response from the Office of the Inspector General,” she added.
This comes as the NEFF yesterday announced it intends to hold a nationwide strike on 21 March 2024.
They held a similar protest against unemployment on Independence Day this year, which resulted in the arrest of Michael Amushelelo, fellow activist Dimbulukeni Nauyoma and parliamentarian Inna Hengari.
Their arrests followed Shikongo denying activists the right to protest and a High Court bid to be allowed to proceed with the protest failing.
Charges were subsequently dropped against Hengari, while Amushelelo and Nauyoma were found not guilty in October.
NEFF head of planning and mobilisation Gregory Cloete said next year’s protest was again aimed to draw the government’s attention to the high rates of unemployment.
“We are giving the Namibian Police enough time to ensure that you have the sufficient resources and manpower to ensure that we are able to exercise our fundamental freedoms to assemble peaceably and without arms,” notes the statement.
According to Cloete, they expect cooperation from the police on the day of their protest.
“We would like to remind the Namibian Police that our Constitution is the supreme law of Namibia,” he said.
“This year, the police denied us our fundamental freedoms to protest, citing poor reasons such as the police not having enough resources and manpower, yet we saw the opposite as the police brutally assaulted unarmed protesters and even innocent bystanders,” he said.
He claimed that during this year’s protest, a pregnant mother lost her unborn baby due to police brutality.
He described their decision to strike on 21 March 2024 as “symbolic and historic”.
“We encourage the Namibian Police to notify all its rank and file [sic] to encourage all their unemployed family members and friends to join our peaceful national protest against high unemployment,” he noted.
In a statement released yesterday, Amushelelo said spending resources on independence celebrations is “a waste of money”.
“We can’t be wasting money to celebrate Independence Day when our people are still living in poverty, because they don’t have decent paying jobs to provide for themselves and their families,” Amushelelo said.
According to him, the high rates of unemployment in the country are a national emergency.
“We should finish what we started and we should pressure our government to declare high unemployment as a national emergency,” he said.
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