Zorena Jantze
THE Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Frans Kapofi, has stated that the government is still committed to monetary promises made to liberation struggle veterans despite the economic challenges the country faces.
The Minister ahead of Cassinga Day was bombarded by members of the Namibian National Liberation Veterans Associations, which demanded that the Ministry pay out N$200 000 to each veteran as promised in meetings conducted in the regions between November and December 2021.
To date, the Ministry has a backlog of 11 139 such projects, which require funding of N$2.2 billion.
Only four individual veterans’ projects were processed during the last financial year.
In his earlier budget motivation speech, the Minister requested the National Assembly to approve the allocation of N$874 million for veterans affairs for the 2022/2023 financial year.
Despite these challenges, Kapofi shared that he had a cordial conversation with the veterans who camped outside his ministry earlier this week.
“There were no ultimatums made. We have made commitments to attend to the plight of veterans. I undertook to convey the same message to the government that despite the difficulties in finances and sharing of resources that this commitment has been made. We however did not make a specific promise to these veterans, however, we shall continue seeking additional resources to expedite the process,” Kapofi shared.
In the petition handed to the Minister, the team leader of the Namibian National Liberation Veterans Association, Sossy Shimanya, stated that the veterans are not pleased with the number of 276 individual veteran projects that the ministry has decided to allocate funding to during the 2022/2023 financial year, adding that there are more than 12 000 veterans with outstanding projects.
“Why is the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs failing to compliment and support the living veterans of the liberation struggle but budgeting for dead people’s state funerals? Comrades are diminishing without receiving their projects, living their children with nothing to live on in the form of inheritance, therefore we recommend that the project for deceased veterans be inherited by the family members,” Shimanya said.
