Stop politicising the army - Venaani

JEMIMA BEUKESWINDHOEKThe leader of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), McHenry Venaani, has accused Swapo of driving a wedge between the political opposition and the armed forces, and warned that the army “might turn on Swapo”.Venaani, who has repeatedly criticised the defence budget, said such criticism is not directed at the accommodation and benefits of soldiers.“We know where the money is going and the soldiers know where the money is going. I tell you one thing, which is very fundamental. If you continue to spend high on defence then we will never grow the economy. Everywhere else where you have a high budget allocation for defence, you do not see any economic growth,” he said.DefendingDefence minister Peter Vilho told parliament in his budget motivation that the army is the embodiment of the Namibian nation’s power to defend its resources.The defence ministry is requesting a budget of N$6.2 billion for the 2020/2021 financial year.Vilho warned critics not to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater and said the quickest way to render the defence force useless would be by cutting funding.He emphasised that the army plays a major humanitarian role such as during the 2019 drought state of emergency during which 150 troops and 42 trucks were deployed to distribute drought relief.He added that 300 troops are permanently deployed in anti-poaching operations in the Etosha and Bwabwata national parks, and 500 troops were deployed during the joint law-enforcement operation codenamed Namib Desert."The state of emergency due to Covid-19 saw an additional deployment of 2 500 troops, 105 trucks, two boats and 25 hard-skinned vehicles. All these missions require significant financial inputs.“This exercise saw the highest deployment of defence and security forces in an independent Namibia.“However, when parliament resumed last week, I was shocked to hear that the defence budget shouldn't be a priority during this time of Covid-19,” Vilho said.jemima@namibiansun.com

Stop politicising the army - Venaani

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-11

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Stop politicising the army - Venaani

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-11

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