Namibia January 2005 |
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| Big misunderstanding at border, (New Era, 2005-01-19):-The High Commissioner of Botswana to Namibia Norman Moleboge says it was not necessary for a Botswana transport officer to offload Namibian passengers and their luggage at the border, although it is not illegal. Moleboge said the transport officer could have allowed the Namibians to proceed as they were about to enter Namibia. Moleboge was responding to the fracas that took place Sunday afternoon at the Botswana /Namibia border in the east. What was supposed to be a wedding celebration in Botswana turned into a border nightmare for the nine Namibians in a Toyota Venture when they were ordered out of their vehicle at the Botswana side of the border by what is known in that country as a transport officer. The passengers were left stranded at the border for more than seven hours while their belongings were taken to the Charlesville police station. The driver of the Venture was warned and allowed to proceed. The incident took place after a transport officer at the Botswana border demanded a transport permit from the driver of the Venture, Tji-puahura Nguasena, which he failed to produce. The driver tried in vain to explain to the officer that he was not a commercial driver who is required to have a transport permit but was only transporting his family to a wedding. A heated argument erupted between the Namibians and the Botswana officials and the Namibians were off-loaded at the border. Moleboge said the transport officer took such drastic actions because the driver Nguasena was well known to the Botswana officials and was given a fine sometime ago for the same offence. The Commissioner said Nguasena was aware of the regulations as he had applied for a transport permit in Botswana, which is currently being processed. The Botswana representative said it was unfortunate that the passengers had to suffer while the culprit who is the driver was allowed to go. He said the Botswana officials did not confiscate the Namibians' belongings, but that the officials took them to the police station at Char-lesville for safekeeping. The diplomat said he believes there was a big misunderstanding and that is why the Namibians refused to collect their belongings from the Botswana border even with the assistance of the Nami-bian police. The Governor of Omaheke Region, Laura McLeod ,who was called in to intervene to diffuse the tensions, said everything had been sorted out and that the Namibians were expected to collect their belongings yesterday from Charlesville. McLeod said some Nami-bians were scared to go back to Botswana but stressed they had no reason to fear as Moleboge had also spoken to the police station commander at Charlesville. She said she would prepare a report together with Moleboge on the incident. Moleboge informed New Era that the incident is being investigated, adding that one action by a Botswana official should not be viewed as policy. Moleboge said despite the SADC protocol to allow free movements of people and goods, the rules of the different countries should be respected in order to ensure safety. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |