No, there is no Chinese created ‘portal’ on the Home Affairs website

Image courtesy Twitter / Namibia Fact Check

The false claim was made by Windhoek mayor and Affirmative Repositioning activist Job Amupanda on social media.

On 4 October 2021, Amupanda tweeted that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security had given permission for the “Chinese to Insert a Portal” on the ministry’s website in order for Chinese nationals to allegedly “track PROGRESS on their Citizenship Application”.

Amupanda’s claim reads in full: 

“The Corrupt and Sellout REGIME has Given Permission to the Chinese to Insert a Portal on the Website of the Ministry of Home Affairs. On While in China, the Chinese can track PROGRESS on their Citizenship Application on the Sellout Government WEBSITE, in Chinese.”

The viral false claim by Affirmative Reposition activist and Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda.

The tweet is part of a thread of tweets that Amupanda posted on 4 October on the topic, all of which went viral. 

In a follow-up tweet Amupanda uses a xenophobic reference to Chinese people, calling them “VONKONG”.

Amupanda’s claim is accompanied by a screenshot of an online interface, on which some of the text, such as ‘Sign In’ and ‘Forgot Password’, are in Chinese text, allegedly showing a webpage linked to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security website.

The facts

In response to Job Amupanda’s allegation, on 6 October the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security issued a statement, following a request for comment from Namibia Fact Check, that was posted on social media. The ministry statement denied Amupanda’s claim of a ‘Chinese portal’. The ministry response states:

“The Ministry wishes to assure the public that the Ministry does not have a portal on its website or anywhere else where applicants can enquire on the progress of an application for citizenship … The information provided by Dr Amupanda is not factual and therefore it should be regarded as fake news.”

The ministry statement reads in full:

The home affairs ministry response to Amupanda’s claim.

On the same day, Amupanda responded by posting a link that he appeared to imply links to the home affairs website, but instead links to the official Namibian government website, hosted by the Office of the Prime Minister.

The tweet that was supposed to link to the home affairs ministry website, but instead links to the official Namibian government website, that is hosted by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Since there was no link to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security website, Namibia Fact Check approached the Office of the Prime Minister for comment on the Amupanda allegation.

Spokesperson of the Office of the Prime Minister, Saima Shaanika, responded via email by stating:

“A link was shared on social media about a MHAISS so-called Chinese website, which is factually incorrect. The reality is that the portal software used supports more than twenty languages to translate the portal’s labels. As an example: gov.na/de will display the labels in german, gov.na/fr will be french. It is thus requested that this factually incorrect and malicious information not be further spread.”

Namibia Fact Check put this to the test, and found that the same labels that appeared in Chinese in the screenshots shared by Job Amupanda could also be viewed in other languages, including German and French, as the following examples illustrate.

The government website displaying some labels in German.

The government website displaying some labels in French.

Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda was approached via WhatsApp to respond to the findings of this fact check – and he saw the request for comment because the message was blue-ticked – but did not respond by the time of publication. This article will be updated when or if Job Amupanda responds.

The allegation, made by Affirmative Repositioning activist and Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda of a “Chinese Portal” linking to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security website, is false.

False

Based on the evidence and/or best available data / information the statements or claims assessed in this article are false.

8th October 2021

Tia-Zia //Garoes

Tia-Zia //Garoes is a fact checker and researcher with Namibia Fact Check.