Gwen Lister intervi~w~ ~peciai Representative Ahtisaari '. Inside A SWAPO team tbat bas just returned from an extensive tour ortbe will then have been further reduced. " nortb bas strongly recommended tbat tbe period for voters to The Swapo group cited the routes register sbould be extended to tbe end of September rather tban to followed by mobile registration teams close on September 15. as one of the major organisational flaws in the registration process. These The delegation from the party's Untag's Flectoral Section, Mr Hisham mobile teams often stopped at small, Election Directorate condemned the Omayad, on Monday. unknown places whose names people whole registration process in the The team led by the head of Swapo's did not know. Ovambo-speaking area as totally registration unit, Mr Nahas Angula, To further complicate things, there unsatil;factory. visited all the important centres in were many places in Ovamboland They said a number of factors the various parts of the Ovambo­ that had exactly the same name, and appeared to have acted against the speaking area. They spoke to chiefs, people could not be sure which of success of the registration process in headmen, church leaders, ordinary fhe,w places the re,gistralion the north, even though the process citizens and Swapo activists during would be visiting. THE person resJ)on-sible for tbe borror attack on tbis young girl, had been in progress for eight weeks. their visit. When people eventually fmd out Albertina Kornelius, 10, has yet not been apprebended. Albertina They said that extending registra­ The report concluded that the South that the mobile unit was in their area, was part of a dancing and singing group of young Swapo supporters tion to the end of September would African government and its allies the queues were long and the regis­ make it possible for the large number' , were trying to reduce the number of in an Osbakati townsbip wben an arrow, blindly sbot among tbe tration officers often moved on be­ kids, struck ber in tbe face, narrowly missing ber brain. Tbe arrow of registration cards that had been Namibian voters through various ad­ fore everyone had registered. filli:d in incorrectly to be corrected. ministrative, organisational and cleri­ The Swapo election officials criti­ was successfuU y removed, but Albertina's condition is still cr iti~aL Other recommendations made by cal procedures and intimidation. cised the placing of registration of­ the Swapo officials are that: "At the same time the South Afri­ fices near tribal offices, headmen's • The names of persons working can government hopes to increase homesteads, police stations and for the South African government significantly the number of voters Koevoet and SWA TF bases. Moths bring old who have registered should be made supporting the status quo. In so doing, People were reluctant to go to these public, and their sworn statements it hopes to deny Swapo the two­ places and the situation was aggra­ declaring they will stay in the coun­ thirds majority needed to pass the vated by the presence of armed try should likewise be made public; independence constitution, " the report enemies together ~ Koevoet/Swapol elements around the • the names of people living in states. registration points. OLD ENEMIES are due to come together today for a seminar on the 23- South Africa who registered under The Swapo team also charged that "If the authorities really wanted sub-section (c) of section 3( 1) should the recent proclamation of AG 23 year Namibian war. the regis tration process to be smooth The seminar's organisers - a groupcaUlng Itself the Memorable Order be published so that the whole world was a plot by South Africa and its and successful, temporary registra­ can know who they are; allies to deny voters the right to in­ of nn Hats (Moths) - says a former Plan combatant will share the tion points could have been set up at platform with the likes of former SADF Lieutenant-General M..J. du • AG 23 should be done away with form themselves. parishes. because it is an undemocratic law The law had been passed just at the Plessis, and several of South Africa's leading mllltary corre5pOncJents "The church parishes are the nor­ and historians, Including WlIIem Steenump, Helmut Helman and and a travesty of justice; time when the political parties were mal points of convergence and com­ . • the Special Representative of the about to launch campaigns to inform Sophia du Preez. munication throughout the region. The seminar Is titled 'From Ongulumbashe to Quito: A Review of the United Nations should be required to voters about their policies and in­ The mobile units could then cover formally declare at the end of regis­ form them about voting procedures. Milestones In the South West African ConOlcts', says Moths. the remote areas only," they said. "In order to pay homage to those veterans of this bush war who made tration whether the process had been "They hope that illiterate voters Registration points had further been free and fair. will make many mistakes during the it possible for us to be in a process where we prepare for Independence, placed too far apart and the elderly it wUl only be nt to once again review the conflicts of the past 23 years." The Swapo team reported its fmd­ voting process and vote for the wrong and infirm often had to walk long ings to the Chief Registration Offi­ parties or get their ballots spoiled. The seminar will be held today at the Moth Hall in Krupp Street, cer, Mr A.G. Visser, and the head of The number of voters for freedom CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 starting at lShOO. Admission is RS, and snacks will be available. TOWN CLERK TELLS COURT UNEMPLOYED SQUATTERS SHOULD BE EVICTED THERE WAS a shortage of bousing in Okabandja for people who cause it was an "emergency". He further submitted that the town the National Building and Invest­ were actively employed, butMr Andries Pretorius, tbe owner oftbe Mr Smit, the first state witness, council wrote letters to the owner of ment Corporation (NBIC) to build plot in dispute just outside Okahandja, bad no reason to allow alleged that the Okahandja town the plot, requesting him to remove ~ in Nau-Aib, a proclaimed black squatters on his plot, Okabandja's town clerk, Mr Gert Jobannes council had visited the plot on a the people. But they could never obtain residential area at Okahandja. Smit, testified in the town's magistrate's court yesterday. number of occasions for inspection. the owner's "cooperation". After doing research on the prob­ The inspections, which he some­ He further conceded that the plot lem, NBIC build 51 low-cost houses Mr Pretorius appeared on charges ing regulations. times attended, were primarily aimed was not a "proclaimed residential" in Nau-Aib. that he allowed structures to be erected The accused pleaded not guilty to at registering workers and to assess area. These houses, the town clerk sub­ and gave permission for people tf· Q!I charges. Windhoek attorney Mr housing needs, Mr Smit told the court. Since 1982, Mr Smit said, the situ­ mined, were " exclusively" for ac­ stay on his plot without obtain.:.,o ";Ie Peter Koep, who defended the ac­ "We have been visiting the plot ation got worse, and the number of tively employed people. permission of the Okahandja mu­ cused, argued that the three charges since 1982, and we established that squaner structures erected were "After irlf~g ' the accused about nicipality. A further charge was that boiled down to a splitting of charges. the structures which were erected "escalating" . the project, wCl\;tili could not obtain the structures on the accused's plot The accused submitted that he there were not to house people work­ To solve the problem, he submit­ did not satisfy the conditions of build- housed the squatters on his plot be- ing on the plot," Mr Smitcontinued. ted, the town council negotiated with CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 2 Wednesday August 23 1989 THE NAMIBIAN End Conscription WARSAW - Lech Walesa, angered by a Communist revolt over the terms for joining a SoUdarity'-led government, says the party risks consigning Itself to political oblivion If it does not recognise realities. Campaign defies PRAGUE - Nearly 300 people were arrested after riot police broke up deinonstr:ations in Prague on the 21st anniversary of the Soviet-led Invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Interior ministry said. Police swlnghig batons charged thousands of .protesters who chanted demands for freedom In a demonstration which lasted more than three hours on government ban Monday. NICOSIA - Iran would restore ties with Britain at once If London THE Johannesburg branch of the End Conscription Campaign by several individuals and represen­ showed respect for Islamic values, an Iranian deputy foreign minister (ECC) officially "unbanned" itselftoday ata press conference held tatives of anti-apartheid organisations was quoted as telling a Tehran newspaper. Iran broke ties with Britain at the University of the Witwatersrand. ' . at the conference. In March after the then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollab Khomelnl, Professor Mervyn Shear, deputy called for the killing of British author Salman Rushdle who he said had The ECC conference, part of the Vlok's August 1988 restriction was vice-chancellor of Wits university, blasphemed against Islam In his novel 'The Satanic Verses'. nationwide Mass Democratic Move­ the firm belie(by the ECC that it was called for "young South Africans to mentdefiancecampaign, went ahead "unjustified, incorrect and morally be given the option of alternative JERUSALEM - Three more young Palestinians died In the occupied in spite of early morning police raids corrupt".