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afrol.com, 28 September - The Namibian Minister of Home Affairs Jerry Ekandjo on 25 September called on the locals of Omaheke to refrain from what he said is dangerous exercise of employing foreign nationals as cheap labourers. He warned that "as cheap labourers, foreign nationals are kept by their employers without pay for months and in turn they either kill them (employers) or abscond with their property such as livestock." The outlined cure, thus, was not to pay them, but to avoid employing them. Speaking at a meeting with regional councilors to explain his ministry's new method of registering Namibian people for birth certificates, Ekandjo warned that the practice of employing foreign nationals as cheap labourers "normally ends up with Namibians losing their property or even their lives." He stressed that "as most of these foreigners come from the war-torn neighbouring Angola in the north, they are well trained in gorilla [the minister probably meant guerilla] tactics such that they would be a danger to Namibians who might be caught unawares." The Minister said people in the Omaheke region might be lucky as they do not face this reality, but in the northern part of this country such as the Okavango area, Namibians lose their cattle and even their lives when such cheap labourers resort to revenge for working for long periods without pay. On issuing birth certificates, Minister Ekandjo said regional councilors will be appointed acting registrars of birth certificates to facilitate the process. He said this would be done with the help of traditional leaders, the police and church representatives who will scrutinise application forms to ensure that foreigners are not issued while Namibian people denied birth certificates. The Minister said regional
councilors will have to establish committees according to their constituency structures which will deal with the scrutinising of applications and the issuing of birth certificates.
Source: Namibian Government
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