Namibia’s Ombudsman, Basilius Dyakugha, has refused to be dragged into the debate on whether or not the veterinary cordon fence (VCF), more commonly known as the Red Line, should be removed.
While acknowledging that the Red Line excludes the majority of Namibians in the economic mainstream, Dyakugha said it is not his place to take a stance on the subject.
He was speaking here at a public lecture on the role of the Office of the Ombudsman and social justice in Namibia on Tuesday, organised by the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement.
As such, the Ombudsman will not join the case in which the AR leader, Job Amupanda, wants the Red Line declared unconstitutional.
“In this case, there are other Namibians who are opposing and there are others who want it removed. So I have to sit on the fence as the Ombudsman until such a time it comes to an individual person who will say ‘I have been discriminated’,” Dyakugha said.
He continued: “That’s the time when I will listen to that person and investigate the case in terms of the facts of that case.”
Having been erected in 1896, the Red Line is 126 years old.
In a separate public lecture held recently, lawyer Kadhila Amoomo, who is leading the litigation for the Red Line’s removal described the VCF as dehumanising, draconian and degrading.
“It is not just about meat as people want to characterise it. It is deeper than that. It goes to the core of humanity. It goes to the core of dignity and the right to equality. We have not been able to find a law that makes provision for the Red Line,” the lawyer said.
Amoomo pleaded: “We call upon persons who think they are now benefiting from what is clearly a discrimination, those who want to lock others outside the free trade system, who want to rely on the patronage of others at the expense of others to reflect carefully.”
It also came as a surprise to Amoomo that the government opposed the removal of the border, despite successive promises to have the fence removed.
Meanwhile, a study commissioned by Cabinet in 2014 shows the advantages of removing the Red Line by far outweigh the disadvantages.
Amupanda at the same event rubbished claims that removing the Red Line would collapse the economy.
“Which economy will collapse? Agriculture as a whole where this beef industry contributes only 6 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). So how much does the beef industry contribute to the country’s GDP?”
Amupanda further said that Namibia cannot be a unitary State if it is divided into two by a colonial structure.
“Government is like a father in the house. The father has a responsibility towards all children. You don’t protect some and their properties and leave out others,” he said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
