Protestors undeterred by rain, registration

THE registration of the ‘Children of the Liberation Struggle’ formally started yesterday morning, but those picketing the headquarters of the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs have made it clear that they do not intend to move from the site, come rain or shine.

The group withstood the showers that fell over the weekend, making shelters of cardboard and plastic bags to keep dry. They were joined yesterday by more than 50 newcomers, who arrived at the site to get registered instead of going to the Khomas Regional Council offices, where the process is to take place.Group spokesperson Shinedima Salomon told The Namibian: “We have decided that as the first people to have brought this thing here, we must be the first to be registered here.”However, while the group were calling for the registration team to register them at the demonstration site, other people born in exile, including those who initially participated in the demonstration and returned home after President Pohamba appealed to them to do so, were assembling at the council offices.By the time the demonstrating group sent its first batch of 40 people to be registered, the line of registrants had already surpassed 100, and they were told to return today.The group cried foul, saying: “When we went there, they had already started registering people who hadn’t even taken part in our demonstration, despite telling us that we would be the first to be registered.”Salomon added that a group of 150 would be sent to the office early this morning to be registered.By the end of yesterday, more than 750 people in the Khomas, Omusati, Kunene and Ohangwena regions had registered.The process will continue until November 7.RAIN AND RELOCATION While registration is taking place, the demonstrators remain adamant about staying put.That is, until their demands for jobs and education are fully met.Previously they have indicated willingness to be moved to a base or to vacant Government housing if they are not wanted at the Ministry headquarters in the city centre.The Ministry of Youth ruled out the option of relocation, and the Swapo Party Youth League, while considering it a “good idea,” said it had no place to move them to.But with the start of the rainy season and cooler weather since the weekend, the SPYL seems to have changed its mind.SPYL Secretary Elijah Ngurare yesterday morning expressed concern for the group, particularly the small children among them.He told The Namibian that the SPYL is now working with the demonstrators to find a place such as a community hall, hostel or any other shelter where they can be accommodated until the registration and verification processes are completed.Responding to the demonstrating group’s earlier claims that they would not return to the regions to be registered, Ngurare warned that “after having fought so hard and sacrificed so much to get to this point, it would be a shame to let a small technicality [i.e.not getting registered] to prevent them from reaching their ultimate objectives.””This [registration] is not an exercise in futility.We are not just trying to wish them away from where they are,” he said.Instead, they should go through the necessary processes so that they can be absorbed into educational and employment opportunities that open up for them.They were joined yesterday by more than 50 newcomers, who arrived at the site to get registered instead of going to the Khomas Regional Council offices, where the process is to take place.Group spokesperson Shinedima Salomon told The Namibian: “We have decided that as the first people to have brought this thing here, we must be the first to be registered here.”However, while the group were calling for the registration team to register them at the demonstration site, other people born in exile, including those who initially participated in the demonstration and returned home after President Pohamba appealed to them to do so, were assembling at the council offices.By the time the demonstrating group sent its first batch of 40 people to be registered, the line of registrants had already surpassed 100, and they were told to return today.The group cried foul, saying: “When we went there, they had already started registering people who hadn’t even taken part in our demonstration, despite telling us that we would be the first to be registered.”Salomon added that a group of 150 would be sent to the office early this morning to be registered.By the end of yesterday, more than 750 people in the Khomas, Omusati, Kunene and Ohangwena regions had registered.The process will continue until November 7. RAIN AND RELOCATION While registration is taking place, the demonstrators remain adamant about staying put.That is, until their demands for jobs and education are fully met.Previously they have indicated willingness to be moved to a base or to vacant Government housing if they are not wanted at the Ministry headquarters in the city centre.The Ministry of Youth ruled out the option of relocation, and the Swapo Party Youth League, while considering it a “good idea,” said it had no place to move them to.But with the start of the rainy season and cooler weather since the weekend, the SPYL seems to have changed its mind.SPYL Secretary Elijah Ngurare yesterday morning expressed concern for the group, particularly the small children among them.He told The Namibian that the SPYL is now working with the demonstrators to find a place such as a community hall, hostel or any other shelter where they can be accommodated until the registration and verification processes are completed.Responding to the demonstrating group’s earlier claims that they would not return to the regions to be registered, Ngurare warned that “after having fought so hard and sacrificed so much to get to this point, it would be a shame to let a small technicality [i.e.not getting registered] to prevent them from reaching their ultimate objectives.””This [registration] is not an exercise in futility.We are not just trying to wish them away from where they are,” he said.Instead, they should go through the necessary processes so that they can be absorbed into educational and employment opportunities that open up for them.