National history compromised
Repeated flooding is putting the preservation of the history of Namibia at risk with antique documents being destroyed.
Staff from the National Archives of Namibia in Windhoek are fed up with what they term top management’s inaction after complaints about the deteriorating conditions of the building have fallen on deaf ears.
Martha Nakanyala, acting chief at the National Archives, has witnessed numerous pipe bursts in their building and this has damaged original and antique materials documenting Namibian history. “I started working here in 2002 until 2013. I came back last year and the situation has not improved. Since 2007, we have lodged complaints of the faulty pipes that continue to leak and yet, no action has been taken,” she says.
According to the staff at the archives, management only sends one or two men to fix a certain area, while “the whole building is in need of serious attention”. Namibian Sun learned that damaged pipers are either replaced with plastic pipes that do not last long or uneven piping that increases the pressure of the flow of the water.
Yesterday, when Namibian Sun arrived at the building, the staff were cleaning up water from storage areas with buckets and mops and using old newspapers to block the water from reaching the documents. “We are not even cleaners, but every day we run around with buckets trying to stop the leaking water from ruining our historic materials. The cleaning materials we have are not even enough to do the job. We have compiled so many reports, but we do not even know if they are read or discussed in their meetings,” continued Nakanyala.
The building holds about 5 600 maps, 61 000 photographs, 2 000 audio cassettes, 450 films and a complete collection of all local newspapers from 1897 to 1962. Letters and reports during the German and South African rule can also be found at the archives. Documents are only single copies and no duplicates are available.
While the archives are open for public use, yesterday the building was closed due to the water crisis.
“This is a heritage institution. It carries the history of this country. If nothing is done, these precious documents are lost forever. We also have marriage certificates for people who got married before independence and every day, we have cases of people complaining that the national archive employees are not doing their job, because documents are getting lost, but that is not the case. We try our best, but we do not see any improvement and we do not want the Namibian nation to blame us,” said a clearly dismayed Nakanyala.
Namibian Sun was also informed that international researchers frequently come from all over the world to make use of their facilities for research purposes. The historians also criticised that the building has experienced water crises before forcing them to go to neighbouring offices to use restrooms and ask for water to make coffee or tea during lunch. “Summer is approaching and the heat in this building is unbearable. I honestly do not know how we are going to survive here,” said Albertina Nekongo, one of the archivers. She also informed Namibian Sun that their CCTV camera has not been functioning for the past few years and has consequently made their facility a target for criminals. “Whenever researchers come here with their laptops, the thieves see an opportunity to make a quick buck as they know our cameras do not work. Everything in this building just needs to be replaced,” she added.
The National Archives of Namibia collects and preserves the nation’s history and unpublished documentary heritage and provides training in records management in all government offices. It shares a building with the National Library of Namibia.
TUNOHOLE MUNGOBA
Martha Nakanyala, acting chief at the National Archives, has witnessed numerous pipe bursts in their building and this has damaged original and antique materials documenting Namibian history. “I started working here in 2002 until 2013. I came back last year and the situation has not improved. Since 2007, we have lodged complaints of the faulty pipes that continue to leak and yet, no action has been taken,” she says.
According to the staff at the archives, management only sends one or two men to fix a certain area, while “the whole building is in need of serious attention”. Namibian Sun learned that damaged pipers are either replaced with plastic pipes that do not last long or uneven piping that increases the pressure of the flow of the water.
Yesterday, when Namibian Sun arrived at the building, the staff were cleaning up water from storage areas with buckets and mops and using old newspapers to block the water from reaching the documents. “We are not even cleaners, but every day we run around with buckets trying to stop the leaking water from ruining our historic materials. The cleaning materials we have are not even enough to do the job. We have compiled so many reports, but we do not even know if they are read or discussed in their meetings,” continued Nakanyala.
The building holds about 5 600 maps, 61 000 photographs, 2 000 audio cassettes, 450 films and a complete collection of all local newspapers from 1897 to 1962. Letters and reports during the German and South African rule can also be found at the archives. Documents are only single copies and no duplicates are available.
While the archives are open for public use, yesterday the building was closed due to the water crisis.
“This is a heritage institution. It carries the history of this country. If nothing is done, these precious documents are lost forever. We also have marriage certificates for people who got married before independence and every day, we have cases of people complaining that the national archive employees are not doing their job, because documents are getting lost, but that is not the case. We try our best, but we do not see any improvement and we do not want the Namibian nation to blame us,” said a clearly dismayed Nakanyala.
Namibian Sun was also informed that international researchers frequently come from all over the world to make use of their facilities for research purposes. The historians also criticised that the building has experienced water crises before forcing them to go to neighbouring offices to use restrooms and ask for water to make coffee or tea during lunch. “Summer is approaching and the heat in this building is unbearable. I honestly do not know how we are going to survive here,” said Albertina Nekongo, one of the archivers. She also informed Namibian Sun that their CCTV camera has not been functioning for the past few years and has consequently made their facility a target for criminals. “Whenever researchers come here with their laptops, the thieves see an opportunity to make a quick buck as they know our cameras do not work. Everything in this building just needs to be replaced,” she added.
The National Archives of Namibia collects and preserves the nation’s history and unpublished documentary heritage and provides training in records management in all government offices. It shares a building with the National Library of Namibia.
TUNOHOLE MUNGOBA
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