Namvet now a political player

Members of the Namibia War Veterans Trust (Namvet), an organisation of former SWATF and Koevoet soldiers, say they will throw their weight behind the National Patriotic Front (NPF) in the November general election.The NPF, registered in 1989, has been all but dormant for years after the death of its former leader, Moses Katjiuongua, but the ex-soldiers believe with their input it is now reactivated and ready to contest elections. Namvet said in a statement last week that the decision by the former soldiers to join a political formation was aimed at having a platform where they can amplify their demand to be recognised as military veterans. “Radical behaviour has started to develop in the minds of the majority of ex-soldiers, something which can lead them to serious confrontation with the law-enforcement agencies. If we can engage the government politically, we can avoid serious, uncontrollable and unnecessary consequences,” the Namvet statement reads. Namvet states that Namibians should stop voting along tribal lines and party loyalties. “Today the political parties that had political bonds with former soldiers are led by half-Swapo politicians or those who never say anything good about [the soldiers],” the statement reads.It says some Swapo politicians are disrespectful of the Namibian constitution and suffocate democracy, adding: “Lack of representation by opposition politicians has inspired the former soldiers to start representing themselves politically.”The leadership of Namvet says it has approached a former executive member of the NPF, a name it does not want to divulge “at this stage”, with whom they have engaged in discussions and came to an agreement. “Some of us were branch members of the NPF. We believed in the party and decided that we cannot let the party die,” one preferring anonymity said. Chief electoral and referenda officer of the ECN, Theo Mujoro, wrote a letter to Kesirua Hijamitambo, a former member of NPF and current member on 15 July in which Mujoro confirmed that the NPF was “reactivated” and “still registered as a political party and can operate as such”.Expectations for March 2020 The ex-soldiers think they have a good chance of challenging Swapo's two-thirds majority in parliament, saying the NPF can become the next opposition party.They vow to fight the “bondage of slavery and poverty” and to ensure fundamental human rights for all Namibians. “Within six months all ex-soldiers [will be] accommodated in the Namibian house and have the same benefits like other veterans,” they say. They say they will advocate for the amendment of the Veterans Act, and for the establishment of a department for military veterans that will cater to the needs of retired soldiers “who took part in combat since 1966 until today”.The ex-soldiers also demand that the N$36 million earmarked for former SWATF and Koevoet combatants at independence must be paid out to these soldiers. CATHERINE SASMAN

Namvet now a political player

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-30

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Namvet now a political player

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-30

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