GAM — The initial group of Batswana of Namibian descent will make their way back to Namibia this Friday, marking a significant step in a decade-long repatriation effort from Botswana.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, detailed the repatriation process in a Parliament announcement on Tuesday. He stated that the first arrivals on 20 September will be settled in Gam, as part of a collaboration between his ministry and the Ministries of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, and International Relations and Cooperation. This event culminates the efforts initiated ten years ago to bring back the descendants of Namibians who fled to Botswana between 1904 and 1907 during the German colonial period.

Schlettwein expressed that this repatriation holds significant historical importance as it represents the descendants’ return to their ancestral lands, from which their ancestors were forcibly displaced. He announced that the repatriation would occur in two phases: the first involving individuals without livestock and the second, more complex phase, involving those with livestock. The first group, arriving from Botswana’s red zone areas like Ngamiland and Okavango, will not bring livestock, while the second group will include individuals from green zone areas such as Ghanzi, arriving at a later date with livestock.

To facilitate this transition, the government has prepared 21 hectares in Gam as a reception area and, in partnership with the Kambazembi Traditional Authority, has secured 245,807 hectares of communal land west of Gam for grazing.