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Border-roaming children concern VP

Governments address problem
Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba has warned that some school-going children are involved in selling illegal fuel and others rob people of their belongings.
Tuyeimo Haidula
School-going children on the streets of northern border town Oshikango in the Ohangwena Region have become a concern as they engage in illegal activities.

This according to Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba, who said some of these children are involved in selling illegal fuel and others rob people of their belongings.

He said the governments of Namibia and Angola are working around the clock to make sure these children end up in classrooms.

He made the remarks during an engagement meeting with his Angolan counterpart Bornito de Sousa Diogo and local and regional leadership of northern towns at Ongwediva last weekend.

The two leaders want to strengthen trade between Namibia and Angola as well as the bond of friendship between the two countries, which dates back to the days of Namibia’s liberation struggle.

“These are two countries and the communities of people are overlapping. We are one community and one people. When we want to develop our countries, we have to work together and build universities, schools and the water and the agricultural sectors,” Mbumba said.

Invest in education

Diogo added that investing in the education of children living in the area of the two border towns is the quickest route to improving their welfare and providing them a chance at achieving long-lasting poverty reduction and prosperity.

“We have a new fight. The fight is to develop our countries. Give jobs to our young people. Hence, we are busy constructing 5 000 schools in Angola to address issues of school-going children selling [wares] in the streets,” he said.

Diogo was responding to questions by traditional authorities who voiced concerns about a high number of Angolan children coming to Namibia to sell their wares on the street.

“We have a huge problem with out-of-school children. The government is working on making sure that this is addressed,” he said.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

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