Apartheid soldiers on the road again

Former members of the South-West African Territory Force (SWATF) and the counter-insurgency police unit Koevoet have started assembling at Oshakati in preparation for a three-day protest march that starts here this morning, and is expected to culminate with a mass gathering at Ondangwa on Sunday. This is their second protest march in less than two months. The first was a week-long march from Okanguati to Opuwo in the Kunene Region undertaken to express their unhappiness about a government decision not to consider them for war veteran benefits. They also denounced allegations that they have set up secret military bases near Opuwo and are collaborating with Mishake Muyongo’s secessionists in the Zambezi Region. Namibia War Veterans Trust (Namvet) Executive Director Jabulani Ndeunyema said that the march that is starting at Oshakati today will culminate in a mass gathering at Ondangwa where speakers will answer specific questions. “We have invited Phil ya Nangoloh, who deals with human rights issues, to come and tell us what we should do when we are being discriminated against and when we are being vilified publicly. What legal recourse is there for us? That is what we want to know,” Ndeunyema said. He said Namvet has also invited a well known Baptist cleric, Reverend Laban Mwashekele, to come and tell the former soldiers why the churches are silent about the blatant injustice being done to the ex soldiers. “The same churches that were so vocal about injustices in the past are suddenly silent about this particular injustice. Reverend Mwashekele must also come and pray for us and with us to entreat God to protect us from any evil temptations,” he said. Forum for the Future (FFF) executive director Samson Ndeikwila was also invited to address the former soldiers and share with them his own experiences as a former PLAN combatant. Oshana police commander Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa said the police are aware of the planned march. “They have notified the police and I summoned the organisers to my office on Wednesday. They promised that their march will be peaceful and we have given them a go-ahead on the understanding that their march starts after 8:00 and they move beyond Oshakati and Ongwediva by 13:00. This is to ensure that traffic flow is not interrupted,” he said. “Police officers will be there to maintain law and order,” Kashihakumwa said. OSHAKATI PLACIDO HILUKILWA