Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIA has asked Angola to consider reopening its borders to allow the free movement of goods and people.
The executive director of defence and veterans affairs, Wilhelmine Shivute, made this call during the opening of the 21st session of the Namibia/Angola joint commission on defence and security, which started at Swakopmund yesterday.
Angola is the only country in the Southern African Development Community region which has not reopened its land borders yet. This, Shivute said, is hindering and affecting livelihoods and cross-border trade between the two countries.
“The continued closure of our borders has led to an increase in illegal business activities through ungazetted border points. Similarly, it has affected the education of Angolan pupils who commute daily to attend school in Namibia,” she said.
Shivute said the closure of borders has also restricted access to medical care for Angolan residents with chronic health conditions and those seeking specialised medical care in Namibia.
Shivute further called on law-enforcement agencies between the two countries to continue sharing information and coordinate their efforts to prevent and combat crime along their border.
She said incidents of forging money, and the smuggling of illicit goods like cigarettes, liquor, food and fuel remain a challenge. “Counterfeit money and smuggled illicit goods mostly find their way into the Namibian market and vice versa. This has a negative impact on the economy of our two countries.”
Similarly, motor vehicle theft, stock theft, and human and drug trafficking remain matters of concern to the authorities in both countries, she said. Shivute reiterated Namibia’s readiness to reopen its borders with Angola.
She implored the commission to interrogate the status quo and to recommend tangible solutions for consideration by the responsible line ministries in both countries.
The discussion on the border reopening may prove to be a challenge as the Angolan minister of defence did not show up for the session. Angola sent its minister of internal affairs to attend the meeting.
This is the second time that Namibia and Angola are discussing the reopening of the border, following a discussion by Namibia’s minister of home affairs, immigration, safety and security, and Angola’s minister of internal affairs at Lubango in April this year.
This will be the last joint commission session between the two countries. Namibia and Angola will henceforth have a binational commission, which would be co-chaired by the two countries’ heads of state.
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