NGOs shocked by cabinet decision
NGOs say there was no mention of war veterans in a resolution made at the recent land conference.
Local activists are demanding clarity from the government over a cabinet decision to reserve 70% of resettlement farms for veterans of the liberation struggle and their dependants from affected communities.
The rest of the beneficiaries will be drawn from the national pool of applicants.
According to Nangof, the forum for non-governmental organisations, a resolution at the recent land conference that 70% of resettlement farms should be reserved for dispossessed communities never mentioned war veterans.
“In my view someone is hiding behind something. I think our leaders are taking us for granted. At the land conference it was decided that 70% of the land will go to the people that were dispossessed of their land.
“That was the initial agreement or resolution that was made. The reality is that those who sat in the conference were shocked to hear later when the resolution came out that there was an addition that was made secretly somewhere else, to add the war veterans into the picture.
“The war veterans were not in the picture in the first place; they should have fallen under the 30% with other Namibians,” said Nangof chairperson Sandie Tjaronda.
Tjaronda charged that the resolution was reversed by certain individuals who wanted to serve certain interests.
“You cannot keep on bringing [in] war veterans and put a few groups of people under war veterans, neglecting the majority or people that are also Namibians and who deserve to be given attention and who are suffering,” he said.
He said the term “war veteran” must be clarified and revisited because it excludes some people, pushing them into poverty, and rewards only loyalists.
“Currently the definition of war veterans is only from 1960, the people who served under the Swapo liberation struggle. We know of people that served before in the 1800s during the German-Nama and Ovaherero battles that took place.
“What do you define those people as, are they not war veterans? Why are we concentrating on a few groups of people, giving them all perks, all over? They already getting huge perks and now we are giving them attention again,” he said.
Ida Hofmann of the Nama Genocide Technical Committee said she wants the government to explain explicitly which people qualify to be called war veterans, before any other discussion can start.
Social scientist Sima Luiperdt said this cabinet decision gave war veterans an unfair advantage over other Namibians.
“It states that 70% should be limited to war veterans from affected communities. Why limit to a specific category among affected communities? It perpetuates the entitlement syndrome of those who think they fought alone and lost alone since the formation of Swapo.
“The first mass expropriation of land through proclamation was done by Germans at the dawn of the 1900s. Does it mean descendents of veterans who resisted and paid through genocide do not matter except those veterans of Swapo?” she asked.
According to cabinet secretary George Simataa, the cabinet resolved at a meeting on 20 November 2018 that the reference to “war veterans of the liberation struggle and their dependants” should be limited to veterans from the affected land-dispossessed communities.
He said this in a statement in response to an article carried by Namibian Sun on Friday.
Attempts to get hold of Simataa yesterday were unsuccessful.
The spokesperson of the Office of the Prime Minister, Saima Shaanika, simply forwarded Simataa's statement when asked for comment.
JEMIMA BEUKES
The rest of the beneficiaries will be drawn from the national pool of applicants.
According to Nangof, the forum for non-governmental organisations, a resolution at the recent land conference that 70% of resettlement farms should be reserved for dispossessed communities never mentioned war veterans.
“In my view someone is hiding behind something. I think our leaders are taking us for granted. At the land conference it was decided that 70% of the land will go to the people that were dispossessed of their land.
“That was the initial agreement or resolution that was made. The reality is that those who sat in the conference were shocked to hear later when the resolution came out that there was an addition that was made secretly somewhere else, to add the war veterans into the picture.
“The war veterans were not in the picture in the first place; they should have fallen under the 30% with other Namibians,” said Nangof chairperson Sandie Tjaronda.
Tjaronda charged that the resolution was reversed by certain individuals who wanted to serve certain interests.
“You cannot keep on bringing [in] war veterans and put a few groups of people under war veterans, neglecting the majority or people that are also Namibians and who deserve to be given attention and who are suffering,” he said.
He said the term “war veteran” must be clarified and revisited because it excludes some people, pushing them into poverty, and rewards only loyalists.
“Currently the definition of war veterans is only from 1960, the people who served under the Swapo liberation struggle. We know of people that served before in the 1800s during the German-Nama and Ovaherero battles that took place.
“What do you define those people as, are they not war veterans? Why are we concentrating on a few groups of people, giving them all perks, all over? They already getting huge perks and now we are giving them attention again,” he said.
Ida Hofmann of the Nama Genocide Technical Committee said she wants the government to explain explicitly which people qualify to be called war veterans, before any other discussion can start.
Social scientist Sima Luiperdt said this cabinet decision gave war veterans an unfair advantage over other Namibians.
“It states that 70% should be limited to war veterans from affected communities. Why limit to a specific category among affected communities? It perpetuates the entitlement syndrome of those who think they fought alone and lost alone since the formation of Swapo.
“The first mass expropriation of land through proclamation was done by Germans at the dawn of the 1900s. Does it mean descendents of veterans who resisted and paid through genocide do not matter except those veterans of Swapo?” she asked.
According to cabinet secretary George Simataa, the cabinet resolved at a meeting on 20 November 2018 that the reference to “war veterans of the liberation struggle and their dependants” should be limited to veterans from the affected land-dispossessed communities.
He said this in a statement in response to an article carried by Namibian Sun on Friday.
Attempts to get hold of Simataa yesterday were unsuccessful.
The spokesperson of the Office of the Prime Minister, Saima Shaanika, simply forwarded Simataa's statement when asked for comment.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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