Windhoek Mayor, Job Amupanda has taken the government to court over the Veterinary Cordon Fence, which he says is a colonial structure that continues to be used to control the movement of people and animals from northern to southern Namibia.

According to a founding affidavit filed on Wednesday in the Windhoek High Court, Amupanda through his lawyer Kadhila Amoomo argues that the fence, commonly known as the Red Line, is an unconstitutional colonial structure that was erected to achieve colonial aims and is not sanctioned or made provision for by any laws in Namibia. He said it is also not rationally connected to any purposes.

Amupanda highlighted in his application that whenever travelling from the north to the south, he like many other Namibians have been subjected to “degrading and inhumane treatment” by Government officials.

He said he is continuously required to declare any animal products, continuously subjected to compulsory and routine searches of his luggage and motor vehicle without a search warrant and on various occasions was required to disembark from his vehicle and to “step on a disinfection mat to ensure that he does not carry diseases south of the Red Line”.

The treatment, he said, does not happen when travelling from south of the line.

The mayor is seeking for the court to declare the erection of the Red Line as unlawful, unconstitutional and not sanctioned by any laws in the country.

He further wants the extent to where the erection of the line is sanctioned by law to be declared in violation of the dignity of the Namibian people and discriminatory and unconstitutional.

He wants the government and the line ministry (agriculture) to be compelled to immediately, or within a period of 90 days, remove the Red Line.

Amupanda is also suing a veterinary official for allegedly confiscating his meat worth N.dollars 1 000 and burning it on 17 May 2021, further wanting the court to declare such actions as unconstitutional and unlawful and to restrain the officers and any other officials from confiscating red meat of any other Namibian person meant for private and own consumption.

A date for the case hearing is yet to be set.

Source: Namibia Press Agency