'Work ethics' delay applications at Home Affairs - by Catherine Sasman
Related Stories
Font Size
21 Jan 2010
WINDHOEK â€" Namibia's football annual flagship knockout tournament, the NFA Leo Cup, gets underway this weekend, with all the teams in the ...
Unknown company wins top business prize
21 Jan 2010
WINDHOEK â€" Ondje Trading Enterprises, an unknown sub-contracting company in the dusty mining town of Rosh Pinah, has won the title of entr...
Colleges' fusion with Unam almost complete
21 Jan 2010
WINDHOEK â€" The implementation of a Cabinet decision that calls for the amalgamation of the four education training colleges into a Faculty...
Three suspected poachers in court
21 Jan 2010
OSHAKATI - Three men including the senior headman of Uukwambi, appeared in the Okahao magistrate's court this week on charges of poaching pr...
Rav4 ploughs into Oshakati salon
21 Jan 2010
OSHAKATI â€" Employees of Desert Salon at Etango complex in Oshakati were lucky to escape a possible fatal accident when a Toyota Rav4 drive...
Reverend Karuaera turns 90
21 Jan 2010
WINDHOEK â€" Reverend Karuaera was born on January 21, 1920 in southern Namibia. He attended his early schooling at Rietquelle in Aminuis un...
Telecom warns of SMS scam
21 Jan 2010
WINDHOEK â€" Telecom Namibia is warning the public against cellular short messaging service (SMS) that informs recipients that they have won...
Heavy rainfall recorded at Otjiwarongo
21 Jan 2010
OTJIWARONGO â€" Heavy rains measuring 15 mm drenched Otjiwarongo on Tuesday.
The heavy downpour fell for more than two hours and ...
The heavy downpour fell for more than two hours and ...
WINDHOEK â€" Delayed service provision is service denied, or so suggests those that have had to deal with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration. The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) this week enjoyed a minor victory when the High Court ordered the expeditious consideration of an application for citizenship for Burundian Jean-Bosco Nzitunga that has been outstanding since 2006.
However, said LAC's director, Norman Tjombe, there are still numerous applications for citizenship not yet considered or responded to, which resultantly hold serious implications for the lives of the applicants.
This year, said Tjombe, the LAC will handle no less than 10 applications for citizenship, some dating back to four years.
"It is a matter of work ethics [at the home affairs offices]," said Tjombe.
Chris Brand of Chris Brand Attorneys echoed this sentiment.
"The situation is getting worse by the week. There is a problem of attitude [amongst the ministerial staff]. They are not motivated, they are inundated with applications, they are overworked and underpaid with most of the work going into crisis management," commented Brand.
He said since many clients do not have money to go to the High Court for legal respite his company on behalf of the clients tries to get applications through by mediation.
"Sometimes this helps, but most times, we have to use force," said Brand.
Permanent secretary of the ministry, Samuel /Gõagoseb, said the situation is not so straightforward.
"Often applicants do not submit all the necessary documents, which delays the process," he commented.
/Gõagoseb nonetheless said that systems at the ministry would speed up considerably once its piloted automation of work permits and other documentation is finalised "optimistically" by the middle of this year after an agreement was struck with Microsoft.
"If the system is in place, all else should fall into place," he maintained.
He did, however, acknowledge that there might be a bottleneck in the current system, where applications first have to go to the registry before landing at the department directly responsible for processing applications.
Misfiling, /Gõagoseb said, is another possibility for undue delays.
"But this happens only in exceptional cases," he countered.
/Gõagoseb said the citizenship committee went into retreat late last year "to deal with the backlogs".
"We want a process that is transparent and on the basis of first come, first serve.
The committee has to be strengthened and to deal with applications, they will have to meet regularly," he said.
But, said Dagmar Brand of Chris Brand Attorneys who deals with many of such applicants: "The ministry keeps on coming up with stunts; every time they go on a retreat, they come back with new stunts," she said.
Moreover, she said, the gravest problems are experienced with applications for work permits and those for permanent residency.
"The last time we have had permanent residency granted to someone, was in 2004; they keep people on temporary residency," she said.
She added: "But I must say that there are many people [at Home Affairs] that work very hard. The problem is when you write letters and there is just no feedback."
Back to Top
Copyright 2008 ©New Era Publications . All rights reserved.| Site Designed and Hosted by Omalaeti Technologies | Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Contact Us
