Untraceable sources, chancetakers, and uncooperative parents are some of the concerns about the ongoing mass registration process countrywide. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety, and Security is conducting the mass registration outreach programme across all 14 regions of Namibia.

Deputy Executive Director and Chief Registrar in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Jackson Wandjiva, says some people use shortcuts even during outreaches such as these. 

"People come into the office trying to register children who they claim are their children, but in reality, they are not their children. You find people turning up at our offices; there is no proof of birth, and there is nothing that can link this person to Namibia. Those are the difficulties sometimes we are faced with, but through this, we do investigations and ultimately come to conclusions based on the evidence that we find. You find somebody coming to the office claiming he or she was born in Namibia. This person will tell you that my parents are both deceased. But there is just no one—no one—that can really direct the officials to say, Yes, this person was really born here in this village." 

There is also a big concern about Namibian parents who fail to register their children at birth. 

The mass registration, which started in February, will end in July.

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Frances Shaahama