Adolf Kaure
The leader of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), McHenry Venaani has advised the government to consider creating an investment fund that can be used to pay war veterans.
Speaking at a recent press conference, Venaani said, “If we spend close to N$2 billion every year to pay war veterans from our national budget, that is the wrong approach.”
“Our advice is to create an investment fund, where the government invests N$2 or 3 billion and by investing in that fund, that fund will start accruing interest. It will start growing and from that interest, the war veterans, the struggle kids and South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) members will be able to sustain themselves moving forward, he added.”
He added that long term vision is essential in compensating war veterans.
“The war veterans will have an investment fund that competes on the international market, so that this fund can be able to sustain itself going forward.
“The reason why we are spending N$2 billion every year is that we are not thinking ahead of our time. We must be a country of thinkers, he said.”
Intra-national dialogue
The PDM leader called for an intra-national dialogue to settle pre-independence matters, saying sweeping such under the rug will not make them go away.
“PDM’s position in this matter is very clear and it is that it will not go away. The SWATF, no matter what line of the war they were fighting, the struggle kids, the Swapo veterans, will not go away. They have proven to be stoic and permanent on the political radar. Somehow, we as political leaders must rise above our pettiness and divisions and try to see how we can resolve these matters going forward and that is our position. This matter needs to be ventilated through a coherent dialogue,” he stated.
Background
The 1989 returnees and former refugees have camped outside the Swapo national headquarters since October 2024, demanding funds they claim was promised to them by the United Nations.
Despite being addressed by the United Nations (UN) resident coordinator Hopolang Phororo and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Namibia, Kavita Belani, the former refugees are not satisfied with the answers they received. They demand a copy of a letter from 2007 from the UN, which they claim has information about their rehabilitation and resettlement funds.
A different group, who also have been pressing government for jobs and benefits, are the struggle kids, also known as the Children of the Liberation Struggle in Namibia.
These are individuals born in exile to Swapo members during the country’s pre-independence fight.
The South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) and Koevoet were South African-led security units active during Namibia’s liberation struggle, primarily fighting against the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (Plan).
Composed of many local Namibians, they were known for their specialised counter-insurgency tactics, with Koevoet in particular, gaining a reputation for their brutality.
Post-independence, they have faced difficulties receiving benefits from the Namibian government, often citing a lack of recognition compared to Plan fighters.