Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIA Economic Freedom Fighters vice president Kalimbo Iipumbu says the party has received responses from the various stakeholders they petitioned in May over the sale of counterfeit goods at China Town.
Iipumbu said on Tuesday that the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade, the Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra) and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security have responded to their letters of demand.
Stina Wu, a shop owner at China Town, has, however, not responded, he said.
Wu referred all correspondence on the issue to her legal representative, Sisa Namandje.
Namandje on Tuesday said he could not immediately provide a response, but would do so by yesterday.
This came after protests the NEFF held when the trade ministry denounced an increasing trend of aggression towards some sections of the business community, especially foreign-owned entities, and urged the immediate rejection of such behaviour by all Namibians.
Iipumbu said the trade ministry gave the party a hopeful response.
“They . . . said there is a bill or law that is being processed to make sure there will be control of the retail process – not to allow just anybody to go out and sell,” he said.
One of the NEFF’s demands was the closure of all Chinese retailers, who should only be allowed to trade as wholesalers.
Retail businesses should be reserved for local and domestic markets, they demanded.
Iipumbu said the party was not satisfied with Namra’s response.
“They said the goods they have burnt are apparently not for Namibians, but we have individuals who have suffered because of this,” he said.
Iipumbu said Namra told the party that confiscated goods are still in possession of the ministry, which does not hold water, because “people did not get any notification of their things as to whether after the evaluation they were qualified to be fake or not fake”.
The party demanded that Namra refund the owners, the “order-with-me generation”, of the products which were burnt, of which the value amounted to N$5 million.
Iipumbu said the party received a promising response from the home affairs ministry.
“They promised they are trying to engage all stakeholders to make sure they come up with a clear and promising response on the issue,” he said.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
