About 98 Batswana of Namibian origin, who are due to be repatriated on Friday, will be settled in the Omaheke, Otjozondjupa and Hardap regions.
They will be settled on five commercial farms, amounting to 23 000 hectares (ha) at the cost of N$58,7 million.
Their repatriation has taken almost 10 years. Agriculture, water and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein, speaking in the National Assembly yesterday afternoon, said the group members have renounced their Motswana citizenship.
“So far, about 100 Batswana of Namibian descent have been registered for repatriation. But only 98 people distributed across 49 households/families will definitely arrive on the said date,” he said.
The repatriation exercise will be conducted in two phases, with the first group to arrive on Friday.
“Phase one comprises the less complicated group. The group without livestock, while the second phase will comprise a more logistically complicated group, which will come with livestock,” Schlettwein said.
“This group is coming from the red zone area, from places like Ngamiland and the Okavango area.”
The second group’s repatriation will be done at a later stage on a date yet to be agreed by the two governments, noted Schlettwein.
These two groups are descendants of Namibians who were displaced due to the 1904-1908 genocide by German forces.
“These communities have made a calculated decision to come to their ancestral land after their ancestors were forced to flee this country due to the atrocities committed by imperial Germany,” said Schlettwein.
They will be received at a 21ha reception area, which has been secured by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, situated at Gam, he added.
This is also where their livestock will graze.
“In addition to the reception area, the ministry in collaboration with the Kambazembi Traditional Authority, has secured a communal area west of Gam, known as Otjipaheua, with a size of 245 807ha designated as a grazing area for the livestock of the Batswana of Namibian descent,” noted Schlettwein.
The ministry has drilled boreholes in the area, installed water tanks, solar lights and constructed animal handling facilities. Food and tents have also been provided, he said.
These Batswana of Namibian descent will be issued with Namibian identity cards and pupils will be enrolled in public schools, he added.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and Social Services will also be on the site to register the group members and assist them with medical services, he said.
It is planned that the new residents will be exempted from value added tax (VAT) on personal, movable assets and household goods to be imported. They will also be exempted from environmental levies for 25 motor vehicles, he noted.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform has already made an application to the Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra), for the above exemption, and Namra is considering the application,” Schlettwein said.
National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) lawmaker Joseph Kauandenge yesterday thanked the government for this move in parliament.
“On behalf of Nudo, through its late president, chief Kuaima Riruako, who spearheaded the repatriation of people from Botswana, we welcome this good gesture from the Namibian government,” he said.
Kauandenge emphasised that the new citizens should be provided with identity cards and birth certificates on arrival so that they can benefit from all the social grants Namibia offers.
“Because it has been a very big problem that those who have come earlier have been struggling for a long time to obtain these national documents,” he said.
Last year, The Namibian reported that the government was expecting about 949 Batswana of Namibian descent to voluntarily register to be relocated to Namibia.
This was sourced from the preliminary report on the progress of the resolutions of the second land conference.
The conference in 2018 concluded that the government must identify alternative land in communal and commercial areas for the resettlement of communities to be repatriated.
“Together with their livestock – 14 816 head of cattle, 48 879 goats, 1 300 donkeys and 684 horses,” noted the report.
In 2019, the government announced it was mobilising financial resources to repatriate 3 000 individuals from neighbouring Botswana.
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