By Violet Lukato and Clemence Tashaya
THE Minister of Veterans Affairs, Dr Nicky Iyambo was in the Caprivi region last month to address the concerns of the war veterans in the region.
The tour was part of his countrywide familiarization tour so as to acquaint himself with the issues, grievances and concerns of the war veterans in the region since he took over as the new Minister of Veterans Affairs.
The meeting which was mainly attended by war veterans in Katima Mulilo raised many concerns affecting war veterans in the region. Some of the key issues discussed were that of pension increments and the beneficiaries of pensions after deaths of veterans were the main concerns raised during the meeting.
“I have come here to address and listen to the concerns of the war veterans since they are my Ministry’s stakeholders. They report to me and are benefiting because of my Ministry hence this induction and tour to this region. I have taken note of their concerns elsewhere in my national tours but we will put together all these concerns after I have completed touring the whole nation,” said Iyambo.
People who were born in 1972 in exile also raised concerns that they should be under the Ministry’s payroll since they participated in the liberation struggle of Namibia. Some of them grieved that they were born in 1970 but were registered as born in 1972.
However, the Minister dismissed these suggestions and said that those who were born in 1972 were not qualified to be recognized as war veterans and therefore could not benefit from the veterans’ pensions.
“We agreed in our Cabinet meeting and resolved that those who were born in 1972 should not be registered as war veterans. Instead, we advise them that they should register with the Ministry of Youths and National Service, Sports and Culture. War veterans are those who were born in 1971 and below not 1972 and upwards,” he explained.
The Minister also advised that some war veterans should form associations for their concerns to be addressed at a regional level and then be affiliated to the national association which is the Namibia Veterans Association (NAVA). We should have an association which should be registered with our Ministry so that we can plough back with funds for small projects.
“As a ministry we have many projects worth N$ 200, 000 that we need to help uplift our comrades in all Namibia regions. All veterans should be registered with the Namibia Veterans Association (NAVA) and all members should talk to General Indima who is the association’s Chairperson. Our government does not interfere with the administration of NAVA’s activities according to the law. Please note that all those members who deserted the association will not be allowed back since we have this fund which is meant to improve our comrades. We have certain traitors and these can not be accommodated anymore,” he explained.
Some of the concerns raised were of those parents who passed away while in the liberation struggle who have children who are not benefiting anything from the government pensions.
Some of the war veterans raised the issue of acquisition of farms which the government had promised them but the Minister explained that land was becoming very expensive and could not deliver the promise now.
“For us to get these farms as part of our project, the government needs almost N$ 2, 5 billion as costs of land. Agri-bank and the Ministry will work towards that,” he said
The disabled war veterans also divulged that that they be provided with wheel chairs and for those unemployed to benefit through some promised projects which have taken a long time to be implemented.
They were some concerns and reports that the registration of veterans was being conducted on a slow pace and they appealed that this process should be improved so as to capture details of all veterans in the country.
ENDS
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