Pohamba blasts Angolan leaders over child beggars

Former president Hifikepunye Pohamba has criticised Angolan authorities for what he described as the neglect of children from the country’s southern regions, who continue to flock into Namibia to work as livestock herders, craft sellers or street beggars, partly due to a lack of schools in their communities.

Pohamba made the sharp rebuke while speaking at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) Eenhana satellite campus graduation ceremony, held last Thursday in the Ohangwena region.

“Recently I went along the border, and I saw Angolan children being brought into Namibia to look after goats and cattle," Pohamba said.

"Some of them are sent to cattle posts with no education, but their (Angolan leaders') own children are sent to school. Can we not end this situation?” he asked.

The presence of Angolan youth roaming Namibian streets, begging or selling curios, has long raised alarm, with concerns centred around serious children's rights and broader humanitarian issues.

Human trafficking concerns have also been flagged, specifically involving Angolan youth who travel to major urban areas such as Windhoek and Walvis Bay.

Questions remain over who funds their travel, as the youngsters cannot afford the transport costs themselves.

Namibian Sun previously highlighted that the children reportedly sell items on behalf of unknown individuals in Angola, despite child labour being illegal under Namibian law.

Cross-border talks needed

Pohamba last week also stressed that child beggars create a negative impression, especially for tourists visiting Namibia. He said visitors might mistakenly assume that the children begging for change are Namibian citizens, which is often not the case.

“The children are now even travelling from Angola to Windhoek to go and borrow money," Pohamba said, adding that "those who are coming to our country are saying our children are borrowing money.”

Pohamba acknowledged that while Namibia has its own street children, many of those seen begging are from Angola. “Foreigners are saying Namibian children are borrowing money. I hate that.”

The former head of state said he wished he had been granted an opportunity to speak with President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah ahead of her recent visit to Angola to relay his concerns to Angolan president João Lourenço through her and urge action on the matter.

"I wish when Nandi-Ndaitwah recently went to Angola, she would have consulted me and I could have advised her to talk to Lourenço. You cannot just have the whole area [southern Angola] without schools. What is that?" Pohamba noted.

Persistent concern

For years, Namibian Sun has reported on young children and teenagers from neighbouring Angola roaming the streets of northern Namibian towns, selling goods or begging.

In interviews, some of the children said they had fled Angola in search of greener pastures in Namibia.

In May 2024, 73 children and their mothers were repatriated under an agreement between the Namibian and Angolan governments.

Before their repatriation in 2024, the group had been temporarily housed at the Ondangwa National Youth Service Centre under Namibian government care.

However, many of the children swiftly returned to Namibia according to reports, and continue to eke out a living on the streets of northern towns, particularly Helao Nafidi, Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa.

In addition to working as cattle herders and begging, some children are allegedly being used to smuggle cheap Angolan fuel into Namibia.

[email protected]