The law must apply equally to everyone
Sem Billy David
Windhoek resident’s response to the presence of Angolan women and children in Windhoek has raised serious questions about why City of Windhoek Council passed a resolution to remove the penge ondola (give a dollar) kids and a command seems suspended due to prime minister intervention.
The City of Windhoek reportedly adopted a resolution calling for the removal of these children from the city, and municipal enforcement officers were expected to implement that decision.
However, the order was allegedly not carried out after intervention from the Prime Minister. If this account is accurate, the public deserves a clear explanation: Was the resolution lawful, was it suspended, or was it simply overridden through political intervention?
This is not an argument against compassion. Vulnerable women and children must be treated humanely. However, compassion cannot mean selective enforcement. Namibia is governed by laws, not by the personal preferences of politicians, in favor of the ruling party or public pressure.
The relevant legal framework is not as simple as claiming that every refugee must automatically be deported.
Section 19 of the Refugees (Recognition and Control) Act, 1999 allows the minister, by written order, to require asylum seekers, recognized refugees, protected persons and certain family members to reside in a designated reception area or refugee settlement.
Sections 24 and 25 provide procedures for the detention and expulsion of recognized refugees where legally justified.
Section 26 protects refugees and their family members from being returned to places where they may face persecution or serious threats to their lives, physical integrity or liberty.
The Immigration Control Act, 1993 also provides removal procedures.
Section 48 deals with steps after a tribunal has authorized removal and requires written notice to leave, while section 49 provides exceptional powers relating to removal and detention on state-security grounds.
These provisions must be applied lawfully—not selectively and not according to political convenience.
The central question is therefore not whether Namibia should show humanity. It must. The question is whether the government has followed the correct legal process.
Have these children and their mothers been registered? Have their nationality, immigration status, asylum claims and protection needs been individually assessed?
Have they been formally required to reside in a designated reception area or refugee settlement? If they have no legal status, what lawful notice and review process has been followed?
The apparent inconsistency is difficult for ordinary Namibians to understand. City enforcement officers regularly remove, arrest and fine Namibian street vendors for trading to earn a living.
Yet when a lawful public resolution concerns foreign nationals, implementation appears to stop after political intervention.
This creates the impression that some people are subject to strict enforcement while others are protected from enforcement because their situation has become politically sensitive or beneficial to some parties.
That perception is dangerous. It can fuel resentment against migrants, deepen mistrust in government and encourage the belief that political connections matter more than the law.
The government should not allow vulnerable children to become instruments of political campaigning, nor should it use their plight to gain moral or electoral advantage.
Equally, critics should not use them as targets for anger that belongs with government officials responsible for migration policy.
If the authorities believe these families qualify for protection, they should say so openly, register them properly and provide a clear legal status.
If they do not qualify, the government must follow the lawful removal process, after individual assessment and proper notice. If residence in a reception area or refugee settlement is required, that decision must be issued formally and implemented humanely.
The government must take them to Othile. Arrest and detention must never be used as punishment for poverty or undocumented status alone.
Namibia cannot claim to be a country governed by the rule of law while applying the law differently to different groups.
The same standards must apply to Namibian citizens, foreign nationals, street vendors, refugees and asylum seekers.
Compassion and enforcement are not opposites; both must operate within the Constitution and the law.
The government must therefore publish the legal basis for its decision, clarify the status of the City of Windhoek resolution and explain whether any ministerial instruction suspended or overruled its implementation.
Silence will only strengthen public suspicion.
Namibia should protect children from harm—but protection must be lawful, transparent and accountable.
No political leader should be allowed to turn a humanitarian crisis into a campaign instrument, and no authority should be permitted to ignore a lawful decision without explaining why.
Sem Billy David is a youth and regional leader in the Khomas region, a community development advocate as well as secretary of Uukumwe Community Executives in Windhoek.
