We are owed N$2.4 billion - war vets

A group calling itself Swapo Veterans claim government owes at least 12 000 veterans over N$2.4 billion in project funding -which they now want in cash- because many fear they might die before their projects are funded.The group also said they are not happy with government’s decision to slash the project funds from N$200 000 to N$170 000, they now want government to explain through which law it derived the powers to reduce the amount. They also want the monthlyThese concerns are contained in a statement dated 3 May 2022 addressed to the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs, Frans Kapofi.Kapofi, while addressing the group on Tuesday in Windhoek, assured them that government is occupied with their requests.“The Swapo government really wants to assist war veterans, but Swapo is struggling to get the money to give you the money, The country is financially in trouble and we all know it. This programme was created by the Swapo government, so it cannot be correct to say Swapo does not want to help,” Kapofi said.Last year government funded only four individual veterans&#039; projects, while it plans to fund 276 this year.Kapofi, while motivating his ministry’s budget in the National Assembly last month, wants parliament to approve the allocation of N$874 million for veterans’ affairs for the new financial year.As if running one of the country’s biggest ministries is not enough, Kapofi has the war veterans to deal with, with the disgruntled group threatening to camp at the entrance of the defence ministry’s headquarters until all of them receive the project funding due to them.The group’s spokesperson Sossy Shimanya said war veterans had been patient enough for over 32 years, with no end in sight to when they would see government acknowledge them financially for their role in the liberation struggle.“The veterans have been patiently waiting for 31 years. Veterans of the liberation struggle are aging, in ailment conditions and succumbing in poverty. Comrades are diminishing without receiving their projects, living their children with nothing to live on in the form of inheritance,” Shimanya said.The group also questioned the manner in which the ministry was selecting veterans for funding, saying it was tantamount to selective morality.“The criterion used by the ministry to provide funding to individual projects is gravely tantamount to selective morality. We are thus being ignored by our own fellow comrades whom we shared the same trench for the same cause,” Shimanya said.The war vets vowed to squat at the entrance of the ministry of defence until government honoured payments to all veterans of the liberation struggle, Shimanya said.“Kindly be informed that Veterans of the Liberation Struggle will be camping at your office until the issues presented to you are satisfactorily resolved,” Shimanya said.

We are owed N$2.4 billion - war vets

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-05

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We are owed N$2.4 billion - war vets

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-05

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