Cabinet orders probe into Bakgalagadi suffering
Cabinet has called for an investigation to determine whether the Bakgalagadi communities in the Omaheke Region qualify for assistance under government programmes aimed at assisting marginalised groups across the country.
The community’s plea for government to recognise them as a marginalised group has fallen on deaf ears over the years, while their deplorable living conditions worsen daily.
Should they get their wish, they will join the San, Ovatue and Ovatjimba as Namibia’s recognised marginalised groups.
“Cabinet directed the ministry of gender equality, poverty eradication and social welfare to assess the conditions of the Bakgalagadi communities in Omaheke to determine if they qualify for assistance through marginalised programmes,” a government notice read.
Hand-to-mouth
The Bakgalagadi community is amongst the poorest in Namibia, living from hand-to-mouth with limited access to education, jobs and healthcare.
Water, food and electricity are scarce commodities for the more than 10 000 community members living along the various corridors close to the Namibia-Botswana border.
The community’s sole means of survival is the monthly government grants such as the old-age pension, the disability grant and the one for orphans and vulnerable children.
The situation is so dire that in March, when Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila visited Corridor 21, community members went for days without water prior to her visit because they did not have funds to buy diesel to pump water from the borehole.
According to Aminius constituency councillor Peter Kazongominja, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was shocked to learn about this and gave the community N$3 000 from her own pocket to purchase the much-needed fuel.
Starving
Narrating the suffering of the community - which falls within his constituency - Kazongominja said Bakgalagadi community members “are starving and they can go for more than three days without a meal”.
“The directive from Cabinet to look into this situation is a step in the right direction. I hope the gender ministry will go on the ground and conduct a comprehensive assessment,” he said.
According to him, community members are in some instances forced to traverse 50 kilometres to the nearest healthcare centre.
He added that stock theft is also rife in the area.
“While other crimes are relatively low, stock theft is a problem because people are hungry. They resort to stealing small livestock for domestic use,” the councillor said.
‘They won’t survive’
Meanwhile, chairperson of the Bakgalagadi Traditional Authority Andreas Kaiser said the community members risk dying if government does not intervene.
“Our people are very poor and have nothing to eat, there is no rain and many are not working. If government cannot help them, they will not survive because they have no money to send their kids to school and to travel to the nearest clinic for medical assistance when they fall ill,” he said during a telephonic interview yesterday.
He also pleaded with government to install a solar-powered water point in the area and do away with the diesel-powered one currently being used, due to high costs.
He added that if the community is recognised as a marginalised group, it will help improve their living conditions.
The community’s plea for government to recognise them as a marginalised group has fallen on deaf ears over the years, while their deplorable living conditions worsen daily.
Should they get their wish, they will join the San, Ovatue and Ovatjimba as Namibia’s recognised marginalised groups.
“Cabinet directed the ministry of gender equality, poverty eradication and social welfare to assess the conditions of the Bakgalagadi communities in Omaheke to determine if they qualify for assistance through marginalised programmes,” a government notice read.
Hand-to-mouth
The Bakgalagadi community is amongst the poorest in Namibia, living from hand-to-mouth with limited access to education, jobs and healthcare.
Water, food and electricity are scarce commodities for the more than 10 000 community members living along the various corridors close to the Namibia-Botswana border.
The community’s sole means of survival is the monthly government grants such as the old-age pension, the disability grant and the one for orphans and vulnerable children.
The situation is so dire that in March, when Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila visited Corridor 21, community members went for days without water prior to her visit because they did not have funds to buy diesel to pump water from the borehole.
According to Aminius constituency councillor Peter Kazongominja, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was shocked to learn about this and gave the community N$3 000 from her own pocket to purchase the much-needed fuel.
Starving
Narrating the suffering of the community - which falls within his constituency - Kazongominja said Bakgalagadi community members “are starving and they can go for more than three days without a meal”.
“The directive from Cabinet to look into this situation is a step in the right direction. I hope the gender ministry will go on the ground and conduct a comprehensive assessment,” he said.
According to him, community members are in some instances forced to traverse 50 kilometres to the nearest healthcare centre.
He added that stock theft is also rife in the area.
“While other crimes are relatively low, stock theft is a problem because people are hungry. They resort to stealing small livestock for domestic use,” the councillor said.
‘They won’t survive’
Meanwhile, chairperson of the Bakgalagadi Traditional Authority Andreas Kaiser said the community members risk dying if government does not intervene.
“Our people are very poor and have nothing to eat, there is no rain and many are not working. If government cannot help them, they will not survive because they have no money to send their kids to school and to travel to the nearest clinic for medical assistance when they fall ill,” he said during a telephonic interview yesterday.
He also pleaded with government to install a solar-powered water point in the area and do away with the diesel-powered one currently being used, due to high costs.
He added that if the community is recognised as a marginalised group, it will help improve their living conditions.
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