Editorial: The missing link in the refugee funds claim

A claim by former Namibian refugees that millions meant for their reintegration were misappropriated raises serious questions, yet one crucial link remains unresolved. Who told them that this money existed, in what form and under whose control?



The figure most often cited – N$21.7 million – is strikingly specific. Such precision suggests a source, a document or an authority from which the information originated. Yet that origin has never been clearly identified. Without knowing who communicated the figure, when it was spoken, and on what basis, the claim remains clouded by uncertainty.

Both Swapo and the UN insist that no such funds were misused and that records from the repatriation process are closed. If that is so, the logical next step is not prolonged protest but confrontation of the source of the claim. If someone told the refugees that money was allocated, that person or institution must be named. If a document exists, it must be produced.



Justice, transparency and closure demand specificity: who held the alleged money, where did it go and when did it allegedly disappear? Without that, the dispute risks becoming an endless standoff rather than a search for truth.