Govt stands firm in fight with shebeen owners

Closing time has been called on a demonstration by illegal bar owners camped on the pavement outside Namibia's parliament for the past two weeks. But although going home, the protestors say they have not given up on their demands for a change to the law. The group of about 50 protestors began packing up their belongings at the weekend after issuing the government with a one-week ultimatum to lift the ban on their businesses. They had argued in a petition handed to the speaker of parliament that police action last month to enforce the law denied hundreds of thousands of Namibians a livelihood. "We want only one answer and that is for the government to tell us when we can re-open," said Hafeni Ipinge, a young shebeen owner who had been unemployed until he managed to open his township tavern a few years ago. The clampdown on Namibia's numerous unlicensed tin-shack bars has been applauded by activists concerned they are a source of crime, violence, HIV infection and anti-social behaviour. A delegation of Women Action for Development (WAD), an NGO that supports rural women, handed a letter to President Hifikepunye Pohamba last week outlining their opposition to the uncontrolled sale of liquor. "The situation in the vicinity of shebeens has got so bad that small children are found playing there with used condoms and even putting the used condoms into their mouths," WAD director Veronica de Klerk told Pohamba at a meeting in State House. Despite the fact that most shebeen owners are staunch members of the ruling SWAPO party, the government has so-far refused to relax the Liquor Act, which regulates the licensing of bars. Instead, "cabinet is encouraging informal traders to diversify their activities and not to concentrate only on selling liquor," said information minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. A cabinet briefing paper issued on Thursday said the government had to weigh the "negative consequences" of irresponsible alcohol consumption against the advantages of employment creation and local income generated by the shebeens. Shebeens have mushroomed since 1998 when the liquor act replaced far stricter laws on alcohol consumption. They are an almost sure-fired way to make money in Namibia's poor neighborhoods. In Kuisebmund, a township in the port city of Walvis Bay, an estimated one illegal bar is available for every 100 members of the 37,000-strong community. However, opening a licensed bar involves a drawn out application process requiring approval from regional government liquor boards and certification from municipal authorities. The delay means many do not bother, despite the government twice extending the window period for proprietors to legalise their businesses.